Young Japanese parliamentarians meet Chinese officials to ease post-Taiwan remark tensions

On Monday, an eight-person junior Japanese parliamentary group traveled to Beijing for a three-day visit, meeting senior Chinese officials Liu Bin, assistant foreign minister, and Yang Wanming, head of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Led by lower-house member Masahiro Komura of the Liberal Democratic Party, the delegation stressed the need for people-to-people exchanges and warned that lack of dialogue fuels suspicion and escalating tension.

Their remarks come after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s November statement that a Chinese strike on Taiwan would threaten Japan’s survival, prompting Beijing to impose trade restrictions and discourage Japanese tourism. Hiroshi Moriyama, a former LDP secretary-general, heads the broader parliamentarians’ friendship body. Komura described the talks as a major step toward restoring bilateral dialogue, noting that continued engagement could eventually revive official government communications. Earlier, opposition lawmakers met with Lu Kang of the CCP International Department, who said China would not alter its Japan policy without a shift in Tokyo’s Taiwan stance, while a trade delegation led by former foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya is slated for a late-September visit to Beijing.