Japanese ambassador arrives in Beijing

Kitera stresses the need to develop stronger economic ties

Japan's new ambassador Masato Kitera, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, called himself a "Christmas present".

But this "present" was grimfaced at his farewell party in Tokyo on Thursday.

"Though you are going to Beijing at this moment of difficulty, I only expect the best from you," Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said to Kitera.

Kitera told Japan's NHK television on Monday that he will explain to China's senior officials that there is a need to develop warmer economic ties in order to stop political ties from cooling further. He will stress that Japanese corporate activities in China are contributing to the Chinese economy.

Japan's illegal "purchase" of China's Diaoyu Islands has led to boycotts of Japanese products by Chinese people and has sent Japan's exports to China tumbling 14.5 percent year-on-year.

"It is important to boost exchanges in various fields in order to ease the bitter public sentiment against each other," Kitera said.

Not a China hand, Kitera admitted that he was shocked to be informed by Gemba that he would replace Uichiro Niwa as Japan's ambassador to China. Niwa's original replacement, Shinichi Nishimiya, collapsed and died of heart failure near his home in Tokyo two days after his appointment.

Kitera joined the Japanese Foreign Ministry in 1976, but he has never been posted to China. He does not belong to the "China school" of Japanese diplomats, trained to speak Chinese and handle ties with Beijing.

But Kitera said he did his "homework" before going to China.

Kitera visited all of the former Japanese ambassadors to China to ask their advice. He said he will let Niwa, who traveled a great deal in China, to be his role model, and he will communicate with as many Chinese people as possible. Niwa, who did business in China for nearly 40 years before his ambassadorship, believes that seeing is believing.

The two countries have no choice other than to be friends because they are neighbors who cannot move away to other places, Kitera said.

In 1992, when China and Japan celebrated the 20th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral political relations, Kitera was an officer at the China desk of Japan's Foreign Ministry. He was on the team to prepare for Japanese Emperor Akihito's visit to China, the first by a Japanese monarch.

Kitera said he will make efforts to improve relations between the countries by supporting a variety of exchanges, including cultural and academic activities.

He claimed that bilateral ties are now very difficult mainly because of the ongoing row over the Diaoyu Islands. He said he wants people to recognize that building friendly ties is good for both sides.

"We cannot allow the efforts made over 40 years to end in failure," his predecessor Niwa said in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun. "We must think about the problems overcome by some politicians to achieve a normalization of ties and realize that we do not have the authority to erase the efforts of our predecessors."

Niwa hopes that the new Japanese government will collect the views of those working on the front lines.

Niwa's warning that Tokyo's plan to illegally "purchase" the disputed islands would lead to an extremely grave crisis in bilateral relations cost him the post of ambassador to China.

Niwa returned home in late November. Hidehisa Horinouchi, minister at the Japanese embassy in Beijing, served as acting ambassador until Kitera arrived.