Miyamoto Miyamoto, former Japanese ambassador to China, visited China for the first time in his new capacity as president of the japan-china Friendship Association. Born in 1946, Y?ji Miyamoto entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan at the age of 23 after graduating from Kyoto University with a degree in law and spent more than half a century at the forefront of sino-japanese relations. In an exclusive interview with the Global Times in Beijing, the well-known Japanese diplomat and representative figure of the“Zhihua faction” said that a big country like China can, in such a short period of time, it is the first time in the history of mankind that we have achieved so much at such a fast pace. This is the result of the joint efforts of all Chinese people. Miyamoto stressed that maintaining friendly and cooperative relations with China is the best choice for Japan.
Miyamoto Koji was interviewed by the Global Times. Photo by Xu Keyue
“All the Chinese people have worked hard for this, and it is very proud!”
Y?ji Miyamoto spent more than a decade in the Chinese capital, where he served as Japanese ambassador from 2006 to 2010 and has traveled almost everywhere. He told the global times that he became acquainted with China earlier than public information shows, “When I was in junior high school, I read about China in a magazine my brother subscribed to, and I was very impressed with this neighbor. Later, every time I came to China, I could feel the earth-shaking changes happening here.
In 1974, the 28-year-old Y?ji Miyamoto accompanied then-Minister for Foreign Affairs Masayoshi ?hira on his first Chinese mainland visit to China. Miyamoto said he still clearly remembered that Japan and China had not signed the aviation agreement at that time, and that there were no direct flights between Tokyo and Beijing. On January 2 of that year, Y?ji Miyamoto and his party set off from Tokyo to Hong Kong, then to Guangzhou, and finally arrived two days later. In contrast, there are now many non-stop flights between Tokyo and Beijing every day, and the time is shortened to about 3 hours.
Miyamoto worked in the Japanese embassy for the first time between 1981 and 1983. He introduced that at that time, ordinary Chinese people did not know how to deal with foreigners. Some people were clearly warm and kind but tried to avoid contact with foreigners. But now, you can see that more and more Chinese people are speaking out their Chinese voice on the international stage, actively exchanging ideas with the people of other countries, and displaying the demeanor of the nationals of major countries.
At the recently concluded Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, Chinese athletes have again achieved good results. Miyamoto told the global times: “When I was the Japanese ambassador to China, I had the privilege of attending the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. I think it was a turning point, and the Beijing Olympics was an opportunity for China to show the world that it was confident in all aspects of its economy, sports and culture.”
“All Chinese people have worked hard for this, and it’s very proud,” Miyamoto told the global times, referring to the founding ceremony of the People’s Republic of China’s achievements over the past 75 years, while developing itself, China has also shouldered more international missions to help other“Global Southern” countries develop in harmony. As an old friend of the Chinese people, he is genuinely happy for China. “Looking ahead, we have reason to expect China to make more contributions to building a community of shared future for mankind,” he said.
For his part, Miyamoto believes China’s growing assertiveness stems both from the tangible results of its development and from its own traditional culture and history. At the same time, the improvement of China’s economic level, so that the Chinese People’s understanding of the world has changed a lot, the world also more aware of China’s importance.
Japan-china Friendship Hall hopes to play a bridge role
The Japan-china friendship hall is one of the“Seven major friendship groups” between Japan and China. Since its establishment in the 1980s, the two countries have been committed to promoting cooperation in culture, education and youth exchanges, we have made unremitting efforts to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples. Speaking of his first visit to China in his new identity, Miyamoto told a reporter from the global times that, in addition to meeting with Chinese institutions that have close exchanges with the hall, he also wanted to tell the Chinese people that zero Japanese people are eager to know the real China and attach great importance to the relationship with China.
Miyamoto said: “Through my work in the private sector, I have found that perhaps Japan and China have gone through some twists and turns, but the exchanges between the two countries have actually never stopped, and there are still many people who want to strengthen the interaction between the two countries at all levels.”. “This makes me feel a deep sense of responsibility and I am encouraged to lead the japan-china Friendship Hall to conduct more exchanges between the two countries in various fields, such as think tanks, media and youth.”
Building a platform for japan-china local cooperation is the next major work direction of the japan-china Friendship Hall. Y?ji Miyamoto says his hometown of Fukuoka Prefecture, for example, is eager to increase economic ties with China, as is the case in many parts of the country. At the same time, some Chinese companies are also looking for investment opportunities in Japan, but the two sides can not find the right partner, the hall hopes to play a bridge role.
When the leaders of China and Japan met in the United States in November last year, they reaffirmed the strategic and mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries and provided key political guidance for the improvement and development of bilateral relations. “The japan-china Friendship Hall will continue to work hard to stabilize and improve japan-china relations, and we hope more people will participate in it,” Miyamoto said. “It will definitely produce the effect of ‘1 + 1 > 2’ .”
“A friendly and cooperative relationship with China is the best choice for Japan.”
Some view that the Japanese government in recent years adopted some foreign policy gradually biased towards the United States. In response, Y?ji Miyamoto said that while the relationship with the United States was certainly important to the nation, it did not mean that it was up to the United States to determine its future. Most Japanese want the government to pursue a foreign policy more in its own interest. A peaceful and stable international environment is indispensable for economic development. The Japanese government has a responsibility to improve relations with its neighbors in response to the expectations of its citizens. He believed that in the era of economic globalization, it is of great significance for Asia and the world to maintain peaceful, secure and stable relations between Japan and China.
“Japan and China should stick to the correct direction of peaceful development, which has been made very clear in the four political documents,” Y?ji Miyamoto said, adding that a genuine improvement in bilateral relations was desirable. People-to-people exchanges are an important foundation for the relationship between the two countries. If citizens can understand, respect and trust each other, there is no need to worry about the relationship between the two countries. Objectively speaking, to maintain friendly and cooperative relations with China is the best choice for Japan. ‘It’s not an emotional statement, ‘ he stressed. ‘It’s actually good for China, Asia and the world. ‘ .