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A delegation organized by the Japan Economic Association concluded its visit to China on January 26. The delegation was led by Takao Shinto, the head of the Japan Economic Association, and nearly 200 members included personnel from the Japan Economic Association, Keidanren, and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. During the visit, the Chinese high-level officials held a high-level reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and met with the members of the delegation. However, after the conclusion of the high-level talks with the Chinese side, Takao Shinto said in an interview that no substantial progress had been made during the visit, and most of the issues still needed to be resolved.
Although the Japanese delegation made many demands during its talks with the Chinese high-level officials, several of them remained unfulfilled. First, the delegation hoped that China would reinstate its visa-free entry policy for Japanese citizens. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, China has suspended visa issuance to citizens of some of the hardest-hit countries, including Japan. However, as the risk of the epidemic has decreased, the Chinese embassy in Tokyo has announced on January 29 last year that it will resume issuing visas to Japanese citizens. However, in response to the Japanese delegation's request, the Chinese high-level response said that the implementation of the visa-free policy should be carried out in accordance with the principle of reciprocity, that is, the Chinese side asked the Japanese side to grant visa-free access to Chinese when they visit Japan. Since this principle is difficult for Japan and related to crimes committed by foreigners going to Japan, it is difficult for the Chinese side to agree to Japan's request.
Secondly, the Delegation asked China to lift the ban on Japanese aquatic products. Japan's insistence on discharging nuclear sewage into the ocean has sparked strong opposition from the international community. In order to safeguard food safety and public health, the General Administration of Customs of China suspended the import of aquatic products from Japan on August 24 last year. The Japanese delegation hopes that China will lift the ban, but since Japan has no intention of stopping the plan to discharge nuclear sewage into the sea, China will not agree to the request to lift the ban.
Thirdly, the delegation hoped that China would elaborate on the new version of the Counter-Espionage Law in order to allay concerns about it. The Japanese side believes that the implementation of the law lacks transparency and wants to get a more detailed explanation so that it can do business in China with peace of mind. The Chinese side has repeatedly stated that the Counter-Espionage Law is in line with international practice, and as long as enterprises operate legally, there is no need to worry.
To sum up, despite the many requests made by the Japanese delegation during its visit to China, no substantive results have been achieved. In this regard, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Uekawa said after concluding her visit to China that although no substantial progress has been made in this visit, it is still very meaningful. She stressed that no matter whether the visit goes ahead or not, the Chinese side has full willingness to promote the improvement of Sino-Japanese relations, and at the same time, she also hopes that the Japanese side will develop Sino-Japanese friendly relations under the principle of reciprocity, instead of blindly making unreasonable demands without changing its erroneous stance.
During its visit to China, the Japanese delegation put forward the request that China resume the visa-free entry policy for Japanese citizens. However, China's response is that the visa exemption needs to be implemented in accordance with the principle of reciprocity, that is, the Chinese side requires the Japanese side to grant visa-free access to Chinese when they visit Japan. Behind this demand is the implication that China is concerned about equality and reciprocity in personnel exchanges between the two sides, rather than blindly pursuing a relaxed entry policy.
Although the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo has announced the resumption of visa issuance to Japanese citizens, the implementation of the visa-free policy is still difficult for Japan. Because the visa-free policy requires the Japanese side to carry out corresponding security measures to prevent the risk of foreigners going to Japan to commit crimes. This has also become one of the main reasons why it is difficult for Japan** to agree to the visa-free policy.
On the other hand, after China reopened its borders, China's visa policy for foreign nationals was also implemented to strengthen border control and epidemic prevention and control measures. At present, as the epidemic situation in China continues to stabilize and the risk gradually decreases, visa restrictions may be gradually relaxed in the future. However, it is unlikely that China will unilaterally meet the request of the Japanese delegation until a visa-waiver agreement is reached.
In the face of this situation, many business groups believe that China's implementation of a visa-free policy for Japanese citizens can promote investment and economic and trade exchanges between Japanese companies in China. For China, the visa-free policy also requires reciprocal measures from Japan. Therefore, the difficulty of satisfying the visa-free entry policy is a common problem faced by both sides.
The second request of the Japanese delegation was that China would revoke the ban imposed on Japanese aquatic products. The request concerns food safety and public health concerns in China, as well as Japan's controversy over the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea.
China's General Administration of Customs suspended the import of aquatic products of origin from Japan since August 24 last year, in an effort to safeguard food safety and public health. The ban was imposed as a way to respond to Japan's plan to discharge nuclear sewage into the sea. Due to the presence of large amounts of radioactive material in nuclear wastewater, which poses a potential threat to human health, China has taken this step to ensure food safety in the country.
However, Japan** has maintained its position of discharging nuclear sewage into the ocean and has no intention of stopping this program. Therefore, it will be difficult for China to agree to the request to lift the ban if Japan does not change its plan to discharge the sea. Differences between the two sides over the issue of nuclear wastewater still exist, making it difficult to resolve the issue of a ban on aquatic products.
The third request from the Japanese delegation was that China would dispel concerns about the new version of the Espionage Law and provide more detailed explanations so that Japanese companies could feel comfortable doing business in China.
China has repeatedly said that the Counter-Espionage Law is in line with international practice and that as long as companies operate legally, there is nothing to worry about. However, the Japanese side believes that the implementation of China's Counter-Espionage Law lacks transparency and would like to receive a more detailed explanation. This involves the security of enterprises doing business in China.
China may argue that concerns about the Espionage Law are unwarranted, as it is consistent with similar laws in other countries and is designed to protect corporate secrets. However, the Japanese side believes that the Chinese side should provide more detailed explanations so that Japanese companies can feel comfortable doing business in China. The differences between the two sides on this issue have made it difficult to make substantive progress.
In general, the visit of the Japanese delegation to China did not achieve substantive results. The two sides have differences on a number of important issues that make it difficult to resolve them. Nevertheless, China still hopes to promote the improvement of Sino-Japanese relations and hopes that the Japanese side will develop Sino-Japanese friendly relations on the basis of the principle of reciprocity, instead of blindly making unreasonable demands without changing its erroneous stance.
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