中國告誡日本 - 在菅義偉與拜登相見及坦率表達意見之前

A few days ago Yahoo News on line reported the following:

China cautions Japan as it speaks up before Biden, Suga meet

The Canadian Press Mon., April 5, 2021, 11:58 p.m.

 BEIJING — China’s foreign minister cautioned Japan against teaming up with the U.S. to counter China, as Japan speaks up more on human rights in Xinjiang ahead of a U.S.-Japan summit next week.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Japanese counterpart in a phone call Monday evening that their two countries should ensure that bilateral relations “do not get involved in the so-called confrontation between major countries,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said.

It quoted Wang as saying that “China hopes that Japan, as an independent country, will look at China’s development in an objective and rational way, instead of being misled by some countries holding biased view against China.”

Japan, a close U.S. ally that hosts major American naval and air force bases, shares U.S. concerns about China's military buildup and claims to territory in the South and East China Seas. However, its major trade and investment interests in China have at times reined in its criticism of its larger neighbour.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga travels to Washington to meet President Joe Biden on April 16 in what will be the U.S. leader’s first in-person summit since taking office in January.

Biden, in contrast to his predecessor Donald Trump, has stressed rebuilding ties with European and Asian allies as the U.S. prepares for competition with a rising China.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi raised human rights in China's Xinjiang region and Hong Kong, both important issues for Biden. He also reiterated Japan's protest against China's presence in waters around a group of uninhabited, Japan-controlled islands that China claims in the East China Sea.

Motegi expressed “grave concern over the human rights situation in the Xinjiang region and requested China to take concrete actions" for improvement, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters Tuesday. He reiterated that Japan places great importance on "universal values such as freedom, human rights and rule of law.”

Some members of a foreign policy team within Suga's conservative ruling party have called for his government to take a tougher stance against China over the Xinjiang situation. They say Japan should adopt a law to impose sanctions against a foreign country over human rights violations.

The United States, Canada, Britain and the European Union have adopted such a law, and they say Japan is the only Group of Seven country without it.

Japan has taken a softer approach by maintaining dialogue rather than unilateral sanctions. But Kato on Tuesday said Japan is open to considering a possibility of having such a law.

"It is necessary to analyze and consider whether Japan should adopt a system that would unilaterally determine human rights violations and impose sanctions, taking into consideration various views including our ongoing human rights and foreign policies and trends in the international community.”

Wang opposed Japan’s interference in China’s internal affairs in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the Chinese statement said.

Taiwan is another potential flashpoint, with Suga saying earlier this week that Japan would co-operate with the U.S. on the issue. China regards the self-governing island as a renegade province that should be under Chinese rule.

China, in a signal to the U.S. and its allies, recently sent an aircraft carrier group to waters near Taiwan for training exercises.

Translation

北京 - 中國外長告誡日本，不要與美國合作對華。正值日本在下週舉行的美日首腦會議之前, 就新疆的人權問題公開地發表更多言論。

中國外交部聲明說, 中國外長王毅週一在電話中告訴日本外交大臣，兩國應確保雙邊關係“不捲入主要國家之間的所謂對抗”。

聲明引用王毅的話：“中國希望日本作為一個獨立國家，以客觀合理的方式看待中國的發展，而不是被對中國持偏見的一些國家所誤導。”

日本是美國密切的盟友，是美國海軍和空軍基地的主要基地。它與美國一樣，對中國的軍事力量和對中國對南海和東海領土的主權立場表示了擔憂。但是，日本在中國的大量貿易和投資利益之下, 使它對大鄰居的批評有時會受到限制。

日本首相菅義偉 (Yoshihide Suga）將於4月16日前往華盛頓與總統拜登（Joe Biden）會面，這將是美國領導人自1月份上任以來的首次親身峰會。

與美國前總統唐納德·特朗普(Donald Trump)相比，拜登強調美國與在準備崛起的中國競爭時, 與歐洲和亞洲盟友重建關係。

日本外交大臣茂木敏充 (Toshimitsu Motegi) 對中國的新疆地區和香港提出了人權問題，這對拜登來說都是重要的問題。茂木還重申了日本對中國在一個無人居住，但由日本控制的島嶼周圍水域出没的抗議。中國聲稱擁有這些東海島嶼。

日本內閣官房長官加藤勝信（Katsunobu Kato）週二對記者表示，茂木敏充 “對新疆地區的人權狀況表示嚴重關切，並要求中國採取具體行動”進行改善。他重申，日本高度重視 “自由、人權和法治等普世價值”。

菅義偉黨內保守派的外交政策小組的一些成員曾呼籲日本政府對新疆局勢採取更強硬的立場。他們說日本應通過一項法律，對侵犯人權的外國施加製裁。

美國，加拿大，英國和歐盟已經通過了這樣的法律，他們說日本是唯一沒有該法律的七國集團國家。

日本通過保持對話而不是單方面製裁採取了較軟的態度，但加藤週二表示，日本願意考慮制定這種法律的可能性。

“我們有必要分析並考慮日本是否應採用一種制度來單方面確定侵犯人權行為和施加製裁，同時考慮到我們的現行人權, 以及國際社會的外交政策和趨勢等各種觀點”,  他說。

中國的聲明說，王毅反對日本干涉中國在新疆和香港的內政。

台灣是另外一個潛在的爆發點，菅義偉週在本週早些時候表示，日本將在這一問題上與美國合作。中國認為這個自治島是一個應該由中國統治的叛離省份。

中國向美國及其盟國發出信號，最近派出一艘航空母艦前往台灣附近海域進行訓練。

              So, it is interesting to know how Japan will react as the United States, Canada, Britain and the European Union have adopted a law to impose sanctions against a foreign country over human rights violations. I am interested in knowing how Japan will balance the importance on insisting the "universal values such as freedom, human rights and rule of law” in its foreign policy, and its economic interests in China. It is a test on the political will of PM Suga.