China and Russia leaders’ statement avoids wording that could irk Japan: Sources
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
A joint statement signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier in May avoided wording that could irk Japan, diplomatic sources said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
TOKYO - A joint statement signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier in May avoided wording that could irk Japan, with Beijing asking to remove such references so as not to damage ties with the neighbouring country, diplomatic sources said on May 25.
The deletion apparently indicates the Chinese leadership’s attempt to stabilise its relations with Japan, a US security ally, amid an intensifying confrontation between Beijing and Washington.
In the document endorsed by the two leaders during their summit talks on May 8 in Moscow,
The sources said the draft joint statement originally referred to the two countries’ commitment to “maintaining the security of North-east Asia”, which could suggest increased joint military activities by them in the vicinity of Japan.
Japan has repeatedly expressed concerns over joint military exercises between the two countries, including concerted bomber flights and warship navigation, near its territory.
The draft joint statement on deepening China-Russia strategic partnership also says Moscow welcomes investment by Chinese companies in a special economic zone on a group of Russian-held islands claimed by Japan, and that Beijing will cautiously study the possibility, according to the sources.
This sentence regarding the disputed islands, which are called the Northern Territories by Japan and the Southern Kurils by Russia, was eventually deleted, they said. The territorial row has long been a source of friction between Tokyo and Moscow, preventing them from signing a peace treaty after World War II.
The drafting of the document started in earnest late 2024, with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi leading the process, the sources said, adding that the paper was revised several times.
Mr Xi visited Moscow earlier in May for his summit with Mr Putin and to attend a ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, which Russia observes as Victory Day. The Chinese leader also watched a military parade in Moscow’s Red Square.
Russia and China have been strengthening their ties in recent years, with Beijing opposing Western sanctions on Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine that started in February 2022.
Mr Xi and Mr Putin pledged to resolutely respond to Washington’s “dual containment” policy towards them, according to the joint statement.
The released document urged Japan to “draw lessons from the atrocious crimes it committed” and be “cautious in its words and deeds” on historical issues, and distance itself from militarism.
Mr Putin told Mr Xi that he would be “glad” to visit China to attend a ceremony in September to mark the 80th anniversary of what Beijing calls its victory in the 1937 to 1945 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.
Mr Masayuki Masuda, head of the China division at the Tokyo-based National Institute for Defence Studies, said the reference to deeper Beijing-Moscow military collaboration in North-east Asia “could have triggered a backlash from Japan, the US and South Korea”.
China probably did not want the document to paint a picture of “a Japan-US-South Korea alliance versus the China-Russia-North Korea camp”, he said.
Russia and North Korea have also been expanding bilateral military cooperation under a partnership treaty signed by Mr Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2024. KYODO NEWS
