China’s Xi congratulates new Japan PM Ishiba: State media

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping has congratulated new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, state media reported on Oct 2, the day after Mr Ishiba

took office in Tokyo

.

Relations between the countries have worsened as China builds its military presence around disputed territories in the region, and as Japan boosts security ties with the US and its allies.

Beijing last week reacted angrily and lodged a complaint with Tokyo after

a Japanese warship

sailed through the Taiwan Strait for the first time.

The US and its allies are increasingly transiting the 180km Taiwan Strait to reinforce its status as an international waterway, vexing China.

The Sazanami destroyer made the unprecedented passage on Sept 25, several Japanese media outlets said.

Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China was “highly vigilant about the political intentions of Japan’s actions”.

The countries have also clashed recently

following the stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy

in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

“Steady development”

But following Mr Ishiba’s victory, China has said it wants to improve ties with Japan, with Mr Lin on Sept 27 saying the “long-term, sound and steady development” of relations “serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples”.

“It’s the only appropriate choice,” Mr Lin said.

Mr Ishiba, 67, says he intends to call a general election for Oct 27. He won a tight race on Sept 27 to lead the Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan almost continuously for decades.

The former defence minister outlined his policies at a news conference late on Oct 1, warning that “the security environment surrounding our country is the most severe since the end of World War II”.

“With the Japan-US alliance as a foundation, we will expand the circle of friendly and like-minded countries, using diplomacy and defence to realise the peace of Japan and the region,” he said. AFP