The dispute between Japan and China over the sovereignty issue involving the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea has caused bilateral ties to plummet. China is repeatedly violating Japanese territorial waters and airspace around the islands. Japan needs to enhance its ability to protect its territorial waters and airspace in the area. More importantly, the Abe administration must make strenuous diplomatic efforts to find opportunities to talk quietly with China in an effort to put bilateral relations back on a normal path.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe included in his Cabinet political allies who have expressed a hawkish stance on territorial issues. This, combined with Mr. Abe's call for revising the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and exercising the right to collective self-defense, has raised concerns among Chinese officials.
But after his Liberal Democratic Party's overwhelming victory in the Dec. 16 Lower House election, Mr. Abe said that since the Japan-China relations are extremely important, he would like to make efforts to return bilateral ties to the "initial point of mutually beneficial strategic relations."