China to send Wang Qishan to Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement
- Vice-president will attend ceremony as Xi Jinping’s special envoy and will also represent Beijing at Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s inauguration
- Analysts see it as a goodwill gesture amid thawing relations between Beijing and Tokyo
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Monday said Wang would attend the ceremony as Xi’s special envoy and he would also represent China at Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s inauguration for his second term on Sunday.
Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have been warming after they sank to a 40-year low following the Japanese government’s purchase of disputed islets in the Diaoyus – or Senkakus as they are known in Japan – in the East China Sea in 2012, sparking big protests in China, damaging trade ties and even raising fears of a military clash.
But the turning point came last year, when Chinese Premier Li Keqiang went to Japan and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited China.
Zhou Yongsheng, who specialises in Sino-Japanese relations at the China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, said it was a goodwill gesture to send Wang as the president’s special envoy to attend next week’s ceremony.
“Sending the vice-president to this [ceremony] is a top-level arrangement made by the Chinese side because it is essentially just one level below the president going himself. This shows that China highly values Japan and its determination to improve Sino-Japanese relations,” Zhou said.
