Hong Kong think tank Sci-Tech Research Institute believes that as Sino-Japanese relations warm up, Hong Kong must seize the opportunity to develop Hong Kong-Japan relations and promote Hong Kong-Japan trade.
The article said that Hong Kong and Japan have a long history of trade cooperation and a solid foundation. Before Hong Kong banned seafood imports from 10 prefectures in Japan, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) repeatedly emphasized that Hong Kong had been the largest importer of Japanese food for many consecutive years, and repeatedly mentioned that Hong Kong people like to enjoy Japanese cuisine and travel to Japan. “Hong Kong has the ability to help the country’s ‘going out’ in terms of exchanges with Japan, and should continue to promote Hong Kong-Japan relations.”
The article believes that this visit to Japan by the Legislative Council can promote the long-stagnant Hong Kong-Japan relations and even the Sino-Japanese relations to start again.
The article said that the earlier issue of Fukushima nuclear waste water discharge caused controversy over whether Hong Kong could maintain a “high degree of autonomy” in terms of food safety and whether it would damage Hong Kong-Japan relations, which led to a deterioration in the atmosphere of Hong Kong-Japan exchanges.
On Friday (December 27), the Sze Chi Institute published an article in the online media “Hong Kong 01” saying that the Chairman of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, Andrew Leung, led seven members to visit Japan from December 21 to 24 and met with many Japanese political and business representatives. The atmosphere between the Hong Kong and Japanese officials is becoming increasingly friendly, and the Hong Kong Japan Friendship Parliamentarians Alliance has also been revived.
The article believes that this time the Hong Kong Legislative Council has followed the trend of improving Sino-Japanese relations and taken positive actions, which is worthy of recognition. Hong Kong Legislative Council members met with Japanese parliamentarians to try to dispel Japan’s doubts and misunderstandings about the legislation of Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Hong Kong National Security Law, which helped improve Hong Kong’s international image.
But the article frankly admitted that Japan’s confidence in Hong Kong is indeed much less than before. JETRO’s official data for 2023 showed that Japanese companies surveyed generally did not look favorably on their profit prospects in Hong Kong in the next five years. Among the 14 countries or regions surveyed, the bottom three are mainland China, Hong Kong, and Russia. In addition, data from local surveys such as Relaunch Hong Kong also reflect that the Japanese are the most pessimistic about Hong Kong’s prospects among many places.
However, there have been many good news about Sino-Japanese relations recently. The article cited an example that on November 15, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during the APEC Leaders’ Informal Meeting in Lima. The two sides discussed issues such as restarting the import of Japanese aquatic products into China, sending a friendly signal of strengthening economic and cultural cooperation. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited China on December 25, sending a signal of further improving bilateral relations. It is expected that the two countries will achieve more cooperation results.