Will Japan and China’s relations continue to stagnate?

Xi Jinping’s government has begun its charm offensive aimed at Japan.

At the Japan-South Korea-China summit in Seoul in May, a smiling Chinese Premier Li Qiang shook hands with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Liu Jianchao, minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party, made nice with his Japanese counterparts on his visit to Tokyo the same month.

However, the level and frequency of China’s communications with Japan are not on a par with those of Western countries. And even though high-level exchanges between Tokyo and Beijing have resumed, there has been zero progress on pending issues. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson still regularly berates Japan over Taiwan and the release of treated contaminated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. What, then, is wrong in the relationship?