Chinese Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Uekawa submitted the "2024 Diplomatic Blue Book" at a cabinet meeting on April 16, which summarizes the diplomatic and international situation in 2023. In November last year, the Japan-China summit confirmed that Japan and China should promote a "mutually beneficial strategic relationship," which was written into the Blue Book for the first time in five years. Some Japanese analysts have pointed out that the authorities are concerned about China's growing economic scale and military strength, but maintaining the stability of Japan-China relations and avoiding conflict have always been important diplomatic considerations.
With regard to China, the reference to the "mutually beneficial strategic relationship" between China and Japan, which has not been used since the 2018 edition of the Blue Book, is recalled. The repetition reflects the consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in November last year. The Blue Paper also said it was important for the two sides to build a "constructive and stable relationship" through repeated dialogue, including on outstanding issues, and cooperation on common issues.
Preface to the 2024 Diplomatic Blue Book. Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
The Blue Book summarizes the changes in the international situation and Japan's foreign policy over the past year. In terms of the international situation, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the deterioration of the Palestinian-Israeli situation, the structure of the conflict will become more complicated. The G7, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) between the United States, Japan, India and Australia, and like-minded transnational frameworks such as Japan, the United States, and South Korea have become relatively important, the article said. The Japan-U.S.-Philippines framework, which was first held on April 11, was also included in the Blue Book, stating that "cooperation should be further strengthened and concrete implementation of cooperation should be promoted."
On the other hand, the Diplomatic Blue Book stated that there are many problems, such as China's "unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas by force" and "increased military activities around Japan," which are "worrying." The Blue Book mentions the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, as well as the importance of strengthening Japan's cooperation with the United States and the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Nikkei quoted Nanako Eto, a professor of Chinese politics at Gakushuin University in Japan, as saying, "Strategy contains competition. With regard to relations with China, the Japanese government has tried to balance its approach to dealing with China, seeking dialogue and cooperating within its capabilities. ”
On September 26, 2006, Shinzo Abe, who succeeded Junichiro Koizumi as Prime Minister of Japan, began a "lightning visit" to China on October 8 of that year. After Abe's talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao, the two sides issued a joint statement vowing to "create a mutually beneficial bilateral strategic relationship."
Hu Jintao, China's president at the time, called Abe's first visit to China a "turning point" in bilateral relations, and hoped that Abe's visit would be "a new starting point for improving and developing bilateral relations."
The 2024 Diplomatic Blue Book also calls on China to immediately revoke the ban on the import of Japanese seafood from TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in response to the discharge of treated water from TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.
Regarding Japan-South Korea relations, the 2024 Diplomatic Blue Book emphasizes that "Japan and South Korea need to work more closely together" given the challenging security environment in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan has positioned South Korea as a partner, but South Korea strongly protests that "Takeshima is Japanese territory."
The Blue Book describes 2023 as a year of major changes in Japan-South Korea relations, with the two heads of state meeting several times. The Blue Book positions South Korea as "an important neighbor that should act as a partner in solving the problems of the international community." It was 14 years ago that Japan used the word "partner" for South Korea.
In response to a series of Supreme Court rulings by the South Korean Supreme Court ordering Japanese companies to compensate victims of forced labor, the Blue Book states that South Korea bears responsibility, and the Japanese side has not expressed any words of "apology or remorse" and continues to claim that Dokdo (known as Takeshima in Japan) is Japan's inherent territory.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea summoned Minister General Taisuke Minori of the Japanese Embassy in South Korea on the 16th to protest the Japanese government's decision to call "Dokdo" an inherent territory in the "2024 Diplomatic Blue Book" and asked the Japanese side to withdraw it. "The Japanese government's claims will not have any impact on our sovereignty," the South Korean side stressed. ”
In response to Japan's announcement of the "2024 Diplomatic Blue Book", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference on the 16th:
At their meeting in San Francisco last November, the leaders of China and Japan reaffirmed the positioning of bilateral relations in an all-round way to comprehensively promote strategic and mutually beneficial relations, providing key political guidance for the improvement and development of bilateral relations. The relevant documents of the Japanese side continue to smear and accuse China, exaggerate the so-called China threat, and unreasonably interfere in China's internal affairs, which China firmly opposes. We urge the Japanese side to correct its erroneous practices, stop inciting and creating bloc confrontation, truly take the "strategic mutually beneficial relationship" as the basis for the development of bilateral relations, and make unremitting efforts towards the goal of building a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship that meets the requirements of the new era.