Chinese State Media: "Suga, the Next Japanese Prime Minister, Is an Opportunist"

China's Economic Power Needed for Post-COVID-19 Recovery
Editor Hu Xijin: "Will Not Be Completely Tilted Towards the US"

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Chinese state media has described Yoshihide Suga, the next Japanese Prime Minister, as an "opportunist between the United States and China."

The Global Times reported on the 15th that Suga, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, was elected as the next president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) the previous day, and cited experts who forecasted the future of China-Japan relations with this harsh critique.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lian Degui, Deputy Director of the Asia-Pacific Research Center at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies, said, "Japan has always been a loyal follower of the United States," but analyzed that "amid the uncertainty before the U.S. presidential election, Japan will not unilaterally lean toward the U.S. pressure strategy against China." He also noted that Japan would need a healthy economic relationship with China for economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Da Zegang, Director of the Northeast Asia Research Institute at the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, said, "Stability will still be the top priority in bilateral relations," and added, "There have been subtle changes in China-Japan relations this year amid the COVID-19 situation."

He pointed out, "There are disagreements between China and Japan over the Hong Kong National Security Law, the origin of COVID-19, the Taiwan issue, and sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands (called Diaoyudao in Chinese)," and noted that "Japan is trying to reduce its dependence on China in the industrial network."

Chinese experts believe that since Suga will largely maintain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's diplomatic policies, China-Japan relations will remain stable, and they evaluated Suga as a "manager" type leader.

Experts forecast that Japan's stance toward China will be shaped by Japan's national interests based on the overall China-U.S. relationship and realistic conditions, so even if the Suga administration shows some changes in attitude toward China compared to the Abe administration, fundamentally there will be no change.

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, predicted Japan's future diplomatic policy on his Weibo (China's version of Twitter), saying, "Developing relations with China based on the U.S.-Japan alliance is the basic framework of Japanese diplomacy," but added, "However, Japan will not completely tilt toward the U.S. side."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.