China mulls replacing its Japan envoy, reports media

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Decade-long term of Chinese envoy to Japan is coming to an end, Japanese media reported on Wednesday.

If reports prove to be true, Beijing will send its Vice-Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou as its new ambassador in Tokyo, according to Japanese news agency Kyodo. Kong also looks after affairs of Korean Peninsula.

Cheng Yonghua, China’s current ambassador to Japan, has been on the post for last more than a decade and Beijing has conveyed to Tokyo that he will be shifted out early next month.

A graduate of Japanese from Shanghai International Studies University, Kong has worked in the country as a diplomat for more than 10 years. 59-year-old diplomat is Vice-Foreign Minister since 2018.

“As relations between the two countries have been improving, Beijing has likely deemed it an optimal time to send a new ambassador,” Kyodo reported citing diplomatic sources.

It also said that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Japan in June when it hosts the Group of 20 summit in Osaka.

It would be Xi's first trip to Japan since he came to power in 2013.

Ties between China and Japan are mired in a territorial spat over the uninhabited Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Last nine years have proved in improving the bilateral relations, the report said.

Any new envoy to Japan presents his/her credentials to Japan's emperor to formally begin their stint. And new Chinese envoy may present credentials to Japan’s new emperor, Naruhito, who will take over the reins on May 1.