In the week before President Donald Trump’s inauguration into the White House for his second term as president of the United States, China seemed to cozy up to U.S. allies.
On January 13, a group of Japanese lawmakers from the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito began a three-day visit to China for talks with members of the Chinese Communist Party. The 12-member delegation – led by Moriyama Hiroshi, secretary general of the LDP, and Nishida Makoto, secretary general of Komeito – aimed to stabilize bilateral ties between Tokyo and Beijing.
The delegation’s visit marked the first time since October 2018 that the ruling parties of Japan and China have held a dialogue.
During the last day of its visit, the delegation also met Chinese Premier Li Qiang and handed over a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru addressed to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Li also extended an invitation to Ishiba to visit China at his convenience.
According to the CGTN, a state-run Chinese media group, at the end of the three-day visit, the ruling parties agreed to make dialogue the way forward in their bilateral relations. “They agreed that regardless of the situation facing China-Japan relations, they will maintain close dialogue and communication, enhance mutual understanding and trust, and strengthen the exchange between political parties, seasoned politicians, and young politicians, laying a solid political foundation for the improvement and development of bilateral relations,” reported the CGTN with input from Xinhua, the official state news agency of China.
While the Japanese delegation was on its visit to China, a Chinese military delegation made a rare visit to Japan from January 14 through January 17. Japanese government spokesman Hayashi Yoshimasa said that members of the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army visited their Japanese counterparts and senior Japanese defense officials. The military visit was organized after the Chinese and Japanese defense ministers met in November 2024 on the sidelines of a regional defense gathering in Laos, where both agreed to enhance troop exchanges between both countries.
According to Hayashi, “The promotion of mutual understanding and trust through frank communication at the commanders’ level will contribute to the building of constructive and stable relations between Japan and China. We think this visit contributes to the peace and stability of the region.”
Similarly, the Eastern Theater Command said in its statement that its “visit will help enhance understanding and mutual trust between the two sides and promote defense exchanges between China and Japan.”
These two meetings taking place simultaneously manifest that the relations between Japan and China are moving toward détente. Both have been trying to mend bilateral ties, which have been marred by various historical and territorial disputes, particularly the issue of the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Japan but claimed by China as the Diaoyu Islands. However, in recent months, the tensions seemed to ease as there have been high-level visits between the two countries. During the last week of December, Iwaya Takeshi, the Japanese foreign minister, visited China to meet his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. Before Iwaya’s visit, Akiba Takeo, Japanese national security adviser, visited China in November, seeking to lay the foundation for the meeting of the leaders.
Therefore, there seems to be a growing understanding between China and Japan that they want to move ahead with their relations. The timing of such improvements in bilateral relations is essential here: China seeks to curry favor with the top U.S. ally in Asia before the January 20 inauguration of President Donald Trump, who vowed to put additional tariffs on Chinese goods entering the United States. For Beijing, the reasons for this concerted attempt to develop stable relations with Japan during the political transition in Washington can be both economic as well as geostrategic.
Besides Japan, China also made a diplomatic outreach to the European Union during the week ahead of Trump’s inauguration. On January 14, Xi Jinping had a phone call with President of the European Council Antonio Costa. Both leaders exchanged views on various issues, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine. During his call, Xi highlighted, “There is no clash of fundamental interests or geopolitical conflicts between China and the EU. Both sides are partners that can contribute to each other’s success. Over the past 50 years, China-EU relations have not only contributed to their respective development but also made significant contributions to global peace and prosperity.”
Xi was quite certainly insinuating that the EU should not align with the United States amid growing China-U.S. tensions. He also said, “China has always regarded Europe as an important pole in a multipolar world and firmly supported European integration and the EU’s pursuit of strategic autonomy.”
On the other side, an EU official confirmed that during the phone call, “both sides confirmed the importance of EU-China relations, agreeing that the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties could be a good opportunity for a successful EU-China Summit later in the year.” However, there was no discussion on the exact date for the summit.
There have been growing tensions between the EU and China in recent months owing to the EU’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. In a tit-for-tat move, China imposed tariffs on brandy imported from the EU and threatened to increase tariffs on petrol-powered vehicles, which could impact the auto industry of the EU’s largest economy, Germany. However, Xi called China-EU economic relations “symbiotic” and urged the European Union to be its trustworthy partner.
This Costa-Xi call again came at a very crucial time, just ahead of the U.S. presidential inauguration. During his second term in the White House, Trump is expected to issue measures designed to promote “decoupling” from China. This could also have repercussions for the EU as its supply chain from China could face restrictions. Both Brussels and Beijing want to keep their economic relations stable in these turbulent times. The call might also be a signal to Washington that they both can go ahead with their relations regardless of the growing tensions between Beijing and Washington.
With its economy now showing signs of revival, China does not want any more setbacks. Trump with his tariff hikes would likely have a great impact on China’s economy. Therefore, China attempts to maintain its economic and strategic status quo with Japan and the EU, which are great allies of the United States.
