US-China trade war providing opportunity for Beijing and Tokio to build stronger ties, but limits remain
The U. S.-China trade war is helping push Beijing and Tokyo closer. How close will become clearer later this week, when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe makes his first visit to China since taking office in 2012.
Analysts say the three-day trip is unlikely to resolve historic territorial disputes between the two sides, but it will provide Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping a rare opportunity to warm ties and try to advance key policy agendas.
Abe arrives Thursday in Beijing accompanied by an entourage of more than 500 business leaders who, with their Chinese counterparts, will attend an investment forum focusing on collaboration in third countries.
As relations between Beijing and Washington worsen, China is looking to build closer ties with Abe, a leader who has visited the United States frequently and has sought to build a friendly relationship with U. S. President Donald Trump.
“For Abe, this is an opportunity that Trump has created for him that suits Japan’s foreign diplomacy interests,” said Ho Szu-shen, Japanese language and culture professor at Taiwan’s Fu-Jen Catholic University. “If Japanese companies can find a way to cooperate on belt and road projects that could help diminish international criticisms and concerns of countries along the belt about debt trap diplomacy.”
In recent weeks, a handful of countries have canceled or scaled back billions of dollars in belt and road projects over concerns about debt. China denies it is trying to create debt traps and take advantage of developing countries.
Japan’s participation in projects with China could help ease those fears. During Abe’s visit, dozens of investment announcements are expected and some are looking to see whether the two will collaborate in places such as Thailand.
« There is a stiff competition between China and Japan vying for deals in third countries and competition adds to both countries costs,” said Jiang Yuechun, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies.
