High-level talks between China and Japan, but no results

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi embarked on a two-day trip to Beijing from April 1 to 2, the first visit to China by a Japanese foreign minister since December 2019.

In his meetings with top Chinese officials, Hayashi raised issues such as China’s military activity in disputed territories around Taiwan and in the East China Sea, Tokyo’s plans to join U.S.-led chip curbs to China, and the detention of a Japanese businessman in Beijing.

The meetings come after the first formal security talks in four years in February, but amid mounting geopolitical tensions that are exacerbating bilateral tensions.

Relations between the two regional powers have long been strained by wartime history and disputes over the Senkaku Islands (which China calls the Diaoyu Islands [钓鱼岛 diàoyú dǎo]). While this year marks the 45th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, China’s growing military might, deteriorating relations with the U.S., and deepening ties with Russia amid the Ukraine war have pushed Tokyo toward Washington.

“The Japanese government’s position on China remained strongly aligned with Washington’s throughout 2022. A joint communique with Australia and the United States on August 5 emphasized concern about [China’s] recent actions that gravely affect international peace and stability,” Giulio Pugliese, professor of Japanese politics and international relations at the University of Oxford and the European University Institute, told The China Project today.

China’s growing military might around Taiwan and the East China Sea

Hayashi raised “strong concerns” over China’s increase in military activity, including its cooperation with Moscow amid the war in Ukraine and its growing presence in the East China Sea.

The two nations announced that “a direct hotline” had been set up between the two militaries to prevent any miscommunication.

Japan has grown more concerned in recent years over China’s military buildup. Beijing has increased its defense spending over the past three decades in an effort to modernize its military, and has ramped up its military activities around Taiwan and in the East China Sea. China’s deepening ties with Russia have also stoked concerns in Tokyo that Beijing will take control of Taiwan by force.

“Taiwan is also a key area of growing alignment between the United States and Japanese governments. Both nations have increasingly supported efforts to increase Taiwan’s international space and to deter Chinese aggression,” Pugliese told The China Project. “Tokyo stressed in the 2022 defense white paper that: ‘The stability of the situation surrounding Taiwan is also critical for Japan’s security and must be closely monitored with a sense of urgency while cooperating with the international community, based on the recognition that changes to the status quo by coercion are globally shared challenges.'”

Japan announced in December 2022 that it would double its defense spending over the next five years to 2% of its GDP, in a major shift of its long-standing defense policy. Beijing also plans to boost its defense spending by 7.2% this year, adding concern to what Tokyo has described China as “the greatest strategic challenge” to Japan’s peace and security.

Japan joins the battle to curb China’s access to cutting-edge chips

China is bristling over Japan’s decision to impose export restrictions on 23 different types of equipment used to make semiconductors, following similar moves by the Netherlands to join a U.S.-led deal aimed at curbing China’s access to cutting-edge chip technology.

“The U.S. once brutally contained Japan’s semiconductor industry by resorting to bullying practices. Today the U.S. has repeated its tricks on China…The blockade will only further stimulate China’s determination for independence and self-development,” Chinese Premier Lǐ Qiáng 李强 told Hayashi.

Japan’s broader-than-expected export restrictions, which will come into force in July, will require the manufacturers of advanced semiconductor equipment to obtain licenses for all regions. It will also affect domestic industry giants such as Nikon, Tokyo Electron, Screen, and Advantest.

The newly unveiled plan marks Japan’s first public announcement about the deal. While news of the deal broke earlier in January, Tokyo has been careful not to mention the trilateral agreement in fear of provoking Beijing.

“We expect the impact on domestic companies to be limited,” Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura, said at a news briefing. “We don’t have one specific country in mind with these measures.”

Tokyo’s new restrictions come amid heightened concerns among the U.S. and its allies that Beijing will use advanced chipmaking technology to boost its growing military power. The move follows a similar announcement earlier this month by the Netherlands, home to Dutch chipmaking giant ASML, confirming that it would impose new export controls on equipment used to manufacture the most advanced types of semiconductors.

Tokyo protests the detention of a Japanese businessman

Hayashi also lodged “strong representations” against the recent detainment of a Japanese employee of pharmaceutical group Astellas in Beijing.

The Japanese man, a senior executive of the Tokyo-based company, was detained in Beijing this month on suspicion of violating Chinese law.

Hayashi urged Chinese Premier Lǐ Qiáng 李强 and top diplomat Wáng Yì 王毅 for the businessman’s early release and to ensure “an environment in which Japanese nationals and companies can safely work and operate.” Hayashi also requested consular access to the Japanese citizen and urged for a transparent judicial process.

The case “will be handled in accordance with the law,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Máo Níng 毛宁 said last week at a press conference.