Nothing seems to be able to ease tensions between the two Asian giants. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told Xi Jinping on Thursday that he had “grave concerns” about Chinese military activity in the Asia-Pacific and its collaboration with Moscow and called for the ban on Japanese seafood imports to be lifted. “I also expressed our serious concerns about China’s increased military activity near Japan and its collaboration with Russia,” Fumio Kishida said after meeting Xi Jinping for the first time in a year.
“I re-emphasized the extreme importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait for the international community and Japan,” Fumio Kishida told Japanese television stations after their meeting in San Francisco, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum. “Regarding the East China Sea, I once again expressed our serious concerns and urged the immediate removal of (Chinese) buoys installed in Japan’s EEZ,” Fumio Kishida also announced, in reference to the country’s exclusive economic zone. He also said he had “urged a calm response based on scientific evidence and the immediate lifting of restrictions on imports of Japanese food products.”
China banned imports of Japanese seafood after Japan in August began dumping treated water from the crashed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, with Beijing accusing Tokyo of treating the sea like a ” sewer”. Russia followed suit and also banned Japanese imports. Japan insists the releases are safe, a view supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations watchdog. Fumio Kishida added, however, that he and Xi Jinping “agreed to seek solutions through dialogue and discussions on the basis of a constructive attitude.”