Tokyo governor vows to patch up relations with China

Nice man, I hope he succeed in his goals .

If you recall Tokyo governor election, Ishihara who was governor of Tokyo for 13 years to 2012, said he believed the next leader of the metropolis should be fellow hardline nationalist Tamogami, the onetime chief of staff of Japan's Air Self-Defence.

Tamogami was fired from the role in 2008 after he said Japan was an Asian bulwark against Western imperialism in World War II, rather than the nation responsible for continent-wide suffering.

Msuzoye has nothing to do with Ishihara. Never with Ishihara. Never belonged to Sunrise Party or Ishin-noKai. .

Good luck! Japan needs more ambassadors who want to work together, rather than drive apart.

It is really good news.

The people to people relationship is always strong between Japan and China. We have thousand years exchange of people, culture and shared history. We will overcome some difficulties.

New Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe on Wednesday pledged to help mend Japan’s strained ties with China through city-level diplomacy

Great news and a breath of fresh air in comparison to Masuzoe's predecessor Ishihara who went out of his way to exacerbate tensions with China/Korea, and largely sparked off the current bilateral mess.

Anyway, I find it odd how Tokyo governors have come to take on the role of foreign affairs — probably a sign of a flailing national government. Nevertheless, I hope Masuzoe's approach on the city level leads to more constructive national-level diplomacy as well.

What is it with Tokyo Governors, they get elected as the governor of a city and then they start sprouting off about foreign policy issues. Blinky (Ishihara) used his time in office as a lever by which to poison Japanese foreign policy with his own nationalist agenda, and now Masuzoe believes that dictating foreign policy on behalf of Kasumigaseki is also part of his brief. Then again, in the absence of leadership from the central government such things are bound to happen.

Anyway, I hope Masuzoe is more success in this gig than he was as a university professor.

For him to succeed china would need to drop its arrogant behaviour

Who is to say that his efforts won't lead to that end?

I doubt china will want to work with him on anything, after all it is china the hater he is going to have convince.

When the Hatoyama government came into power, they put a lot of effort into repairing relations with China, and there was a point where they were at their all-time post-war high. Relations can be improved with the Chinese if/when the effort is made.

Good new for change. Masuzoye will succeed. He is a rare politician who is the expert in social welfare problems. I am sure Beijing will have nice trsults, I am very sure.

there is some merit to city to city relationships and cultural and other exchanges. i don't agree that he is exceeding his brief as Governor and i am so glad that that tit Ishihara has gone

Good PR and that will simply assure second consecutive victory to Mr. Masuzoe.

In 1999, Masuzoe lost election to Ishihara. He will do opposite of whatever Ishihara preached, I think.

@ADK99: if you want to be involved in foreign policy, become a diplomat or seek national election and join a foreign affairs committee or become foreign minister. If not, mind your own business and let the foreign ministry and minister do their job (no matter how ineptly)

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I completely agree with you. He was elected in Diet member but he jumped up to Tokyo Governor election. He is kind of neglecting Tokyo problems. Looks like he is interested in anti Ishihara politics only.

Whatever his real motives are, this is clearly the correct way to do things. Japan and China working together can only be good for both nations in the end. The current spat has been bad for both countries economically. Japan has really trying matters to resolve come April and anything to boost exports will help. Asia can benefit tremendously if both nations grow at the same time and take the lead. Abe and his gang have kept things rather peaceful these few months and I hope this continues for more months to come! Abe cannot want to be at loggerhead with China and expects to impose sanctions on Russia. He will simply destroy Japan or send it to oblivion!

I think his plan is a good one. Dialogue, at this point, can only help.

This is definitely the way forward, and actually I think this guy complements Abe well. I think Masuzoe would actually make for a great head of the Foreign Ministry if this rhetoric is sincere.

Let's hope he is a competent governor, and his initiatives (with China and Tokyo) bear fruit.

Both Japan and Chine need to mend one's political fences.

As far as China is concerned, picking a fight with Japan is last on their mind. They have other more pressing issues at hand and the leaders know that if any of the huge problems they have is not solved properly, they are in for trouble! So long as Abe's olive branch is genuine, China will definitely accept it. They are not stupid. Their survival is more more important than Abe's survival! However if Abe keeps on pushing the boundary, then I am sure China will harden too as they cannot appear to be weak. Japan is a democracy, if Abe fails, somebody else either from the LDP or another party will gladly take over. China does not have this luxury and the communist party knows it. With the situation in Ukraine, the US will neither have the appetite nor means to come to Japan's aid over some rocks! So for everybody's sake, Japan better have a firm decision to live in peace with China and stop revisiting WW2 and look towards the future!

Brave but hollow words. A Shinzo Abe's shadow can only make matters worse.

For him to succeed china would need to drop its arrogant behaviour, I doubt china will want to work with him on anything, after all it is china the hater he is going to have convince.

It's nice that he wants relations with China to improve, but he simply doesn't have the mandate for this. Foreign policy is none of his business, nor was it that of that old buffoon Ishihara.

We have a simple system in place here - if you want to be involved in foreign policy, become a diplomat or seek national election and join a foreign affairs committee or become foreign minister. If not, mind your own business and let the foreign ministry and minister do their job (no matter how ineptly)

Nice sentiment, but he is only one man among a whole gaggle of right-wing cronies.

I wish him well but I wonder if China wants to mend ties?

The Tokyo Governorship must be lacking in responsibilities for Ishihara and Masuzoe seem to have much free time to involve themselves in non-Tokyo related endeavors. I'm so happy to live in a city (prefecture to be precise) where there are so few matters that deserve the Governor's attention! Maybe we could loan these buffoons to China where they seem to be focused and do away with the position of Governor all-together.

Well he's more practical than your average right-wing, but his policies are still largely conservative.

Masuzoe, how can you expect to patch things up with such a complex problem with China when you can't even patch things up with your ex wives?

It's beyond me with these hypocrite who seeks fame and power when his flimsy roots sprouted with support from his former wives who he gave their walking papers when he no longer needed them. Tokyo don't be fooled by this guy..what he does, he does it for himself and his hope to occupy the PM seat.

New Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe on Wednesday pledged to help mend Japan’s strained ties with China through city-level diplomacy, saying he could help with Beijing’s air pollution and demographic challenges from its one-child policy.

This is an accident waiting to happen. Have all of you forgotten it was the ex-Tokyo governor, Ishihara, who set off the turmoil with China in the first place, by saying he was going to buy the islets? These clowns have no business sticking their noses into international affairs/relationships. Besides, his time would be better spent solving Tokyo's many problems.