The Chinese government has yet to respond officially to the choice of Finance Minister Noda as Japan’s sixth prime minister in five years, but an English-language commentary from the state-run Xinhua news agency set a brusque tone.
China and Japan are Asia’s two biggest economies, but their deepening trade interdependence has been offset by a sea dispute, Japanese unease about China’s naval buildup, and deep-seated Chinese bitterness over Japan’s military occupation before and during the Second World War.
Noda should ensure that Japan respects China’s “core interests,” said Xinhua, singling out as a key concern disputed islands in the East China Sea.
“Tokyo has managed its relationship with Beijing without due respect for China’s core interests and legitimate demands for development,” said the Xinhua commentary.
“The new Japanese government needs to start to appreciate the undisputed fact that a deeply troubled China-Japan relationship and dire mistrust would by no means serve the interests of either side,” said Xinhua.
“Furthermore, Japan needs to show enough respect for China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially when it comes to matters concerning [the] Diaoyu islands” — the group of islets in the East China Sea that Japan also claims as the Senkaku islands.
In September 2010, Japan held a Chinese trawler captain after his boat collided with Japanese coast guard ships near the disputed islands. Beijing canceled diplomatic meetings in protest at Japan’s detention of the captain, which became a focus for broader ire over the sea dispute.
Noda has to be confirmed as prime minister by parliament on Tuesday, and will be the third premier since his ruling Democratic Party of Japan won power in 2009, promising change and a firmer relationship with China.
But since then, Sino-Japanese ties have been strained, and Noda’s past positions could prompt fresh wariness in China.
Noda, 54, has recently repeated that Japanese wartime leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal after Japan’s defeat in World War Two were not “war criminals” under domestic law. He has also said China’s rapid military buildup and expanding naval activities pose a serious regional risk.
China has criticized high-profile visits by Japanese leaders in the past to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead. Among those honored are war criminals convicted by an Allied tribunal after World War Two.
In 2005, then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visit to the shrine fueled anger in China that broke out in occasionally violent anti-Japan protests.
Noda was not asked about Yasukuni at a news conference after his victory on Monday, and before the election he declined to say what he would do if he became prime minister.
“Noda’s cabinet has to carefully craft and implement a proper policy in treating Japan’s war past to soothe the resentment among the Chinese public toward Japan,” said Xinhua.
“Additionally, Japan should acknowledge China’s legitimate requirement for military modernization,” it added.
