Experts eye possible China-Japan meeting during ASEAN

Szu-shen Ho, director of the Center of Japan and East Asia Studies at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, notes three key areas of contention between China and Japan: a territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, which China calls the Diaoyu Islands, the detention of at least five Japanese nationals by China following the implementation of its revised counterespionage law, and the release Fukushima's nuclear wastewater into the sea. He said that channels of communication between China and Japan, be it among Cabinet members or leaders, seem to be relatively "Smooth." Economic and trade relations, he adds, also still are very deep between China and Japan, despite the U.S.-China trade and technology war. Last year, the United States was Japan's biggest export market and China its biggest source of imports, according to Japanese trade data. Since the COVID-19 pandemic some Japanese companies have shifted their investments out of China. Lin also believes that it's possible China could release Japanese nationals who have been detained in China after they are sentenced and the judicial process is complete. The exercise, which sparked a strong protest from China, was the first joint maritime training for Japan and Taiwan since Tokyo severed diplomatic ties with Taipei in September 1972 and switched recognition to Beijing. Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said the exercise was not aimed at any country, including China.