Japan’s Suga, China’s Xi to Work on Bilateral Issues, Kyodo Says

(Bloomberg) -- New Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga spoke by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping, agreeing to work closely on bilateral and global issues, Kyodo reported.

He told Xi of his concerns about the East China Sea, Kyodo said, citing Japanese government officials. They agreed to resume Japan-China business travel at an early date; Xi’s visiting Japan was not discussed, according to the news agency.

Suga, who became premier last week, has little experience in diplomacy and one of his most challenging tasks will be seeking a delicate balance between Japan’s biggest trading partner, China, and its only military ally, the U.S.

In recent months, the world’s two largest economies have clashed over everything from trade to data security. Meanwhile, voices in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party have increasingly called on Japan to take a firmer stand on the side of its security partner.

Japan has been hedging its bets. It’s working with Australia and India to build stronger supply chains to counter China’s dominance, according to people in Tokyo and New Delhi with knowledge of the matter. It also took a lead role in pushing for a Group of Seven statement denouncing Beijing’s clampdown on Hong Kong.

There have also been members in Suga’s ruling LDP pressing to cancel a state visit to Tokyo by Xi to protest a new security law in Hong Kong criticized for eroding the city’s autonomy and over what Tokyo sees as China’s incursions into its territory around a set of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

The Xi visit had been planned for the spring but pushed back due to the pandemic. No date has been set but if it comes off in the next few months, it will be the first of its sort in about a decade.

Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was one of the more seasoned hands during his nearly eight years as leader. Abe came to office in 2012 when ties with China had plummeted and worked hard to rebuild relations.

There have been times when Suga jumped into the diplomatic fray, while serving as Abe’s right-hand man. Five years ago, he criticized Xi’s speech at the 70th anniversary of Japan’s World War Two surrender, saying it was anti-Japanese and omitted elements of the neighbors’ postwar reconciliation.

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