By Liao Jingwen

The 15th Beijing-Tokyo Forum kicked off in Beijing on October 26.The forum is further subdivided into five sub-forums, among which the topic on the responsibilities undertaken by China and Japan to construct security and peace order in the northeast Asia attracted the most attention. Experts and scholars from the two countries focused on the maritime and air liaison mechanism between China and Japan, which was officially launched in June last year.

Urgent dialogue and gradual progress co-exist in China-Japan security exchanges

Several Chinese and Japanese experts attending the meeting pointed out that the security relations between China and Japan have improved over the past. Jiang Xinfeng, a researcher at the War Studies College of the Academy of Military Sciences of the Chinese PLA, said that the relationship between China and Japan has been back on track with the concerted efforts by the leaders of the two countries. Defense exchanges between the two sides also have made considerable progress, for examples, the exchange of visits between naval vessels and young military officers has been resumed, and the maritime and air liaison mechanism has also been officially launched. The two countries could deal with emergencies in the East China Sea on a timely basis, which plays a certain role in crisis control and management.

Gen Nakatani, Japan's former defense minister and a member of the Lower House of Parliament, added that it had been more than a year since the maritime and air liaison mechanism became operational in June last year.

Yoji Koda, former Japan Maritime Self-Defense Fleet Commander and an adviser at Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU), agreed in an interview with the media that defense relations between China and Japan were improving, adding that there was still a lot of unfinished work.

Wu Huaizhong, a researcher at the Institute of Japanese studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that China and Japan have found a positive way to resolve the issue in the East China Sea. It can be seen that the maritime and air liaison mechanism is being implemented, but the hotline at the level of heads of two states and heads of defense departments has not been established, which needs further implementation. Furthermore, the June 18 consensus between China and Japan in 2008, which has been reached during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to China, also requires further gradual consultations.

"Playing a very positive role in improving bilateral security relations, Japan hopes that the two sides will decide how to proceed with dialogue as soon as possible." Yoji Koda added.

However, Major General Yao Yunzhu, a member of the Academic Committee of the National Academy of Military Sciences and former Director of the Center for US-China Defense Relations, said that whether Japan is positive in improving defense relations between the two countries should be analyzed according to a special case. For example, in terms of crisis control, it is more urgent than China for Japan Self-Defense Forces to establish the crisis liaison and communication mechanism. But the two sides have maintained a slowly progressive approach towards some substantive defense exchanges, such as joint training activities, more military personnel exchanges, the exchange of military cadets in military academies, etc.

Greater mutual trust is the key to further improving security relations

The Chinese guided-missile destroyer Taiyuan (Hull 131) visited Japan earlier this month. The warship conducted joint maritime training with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) Murasame-class destroyer Samidare in waters south of Tokyo Bay during its return voyage on Oct 16. This is the first joint friendly training between China and Japan in eight years.

What's more, the Chinese warship's visit to Japan coincided with the arrival of super typhoon Hagibis. The warship immediately hung out a banner on its hull with words written in both Chinese and Japanese: "Best wishes to the people affected by the typhoon and for the early reconstruction of the disaster area."

Mr. Nakatani mentioned the incident on the Beijing-Tokyo Forum two weeks later, saying that many Japanese people witnessed this goodwill and were grateful for China's concern and friendship towards them. This is an epitome of the improvement in China-Japan security relations.

However, there are also many obstacles to further boost the relationship between China and Japan. Yao Yunzhu pointed out that there were few military exchanges between China and Japan in the past. First, either country lacks enough domestic political foundation. Second, the Chinese people's liberation Army (PLA) is an integrated armed force while the Japanese Self-Defense Force is not a complete military system, so it is often difficult to find proper counterparts in military exchanges.

Jiang Xinfeng also pointed out that security relations remains a weak spot in China-Japan relations, in which there still exist some problems. The two countries still lack of military mutual trust to some extent. Although the maritime and air liaison mechanism has been launched, there are still some potential risks. The possibility of accidental conflict between ships and aircraft from the two countries cannot be completely ruled out.

To avoid conflicts and manage divergences, Chinese and Japanese experts and scholars stressed the importance of enhancing mutual trust between the two countries.

Mr. Nakatani pointed out that both Japan and China have common security interests, and have undertaken great responsibilities in global peace and prosperity. The defense exchanges between the two countries are in the process of improvement. It is deemed to strengthen cooperation in various fields to build mutual trust, and Japan-China cooperation should be upgraded to a new stage. Wu Jinan, President of the Shanghai Association for Japanese Studies and deputy director of the Advisory Committee of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said China and Japan should conduct more exchanges on improving military transparency. For example, Japan’s defense white paper is mainly drafted by the defense policy bureau of the Defense Ministry while China’s defense white paper is drafted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The drafting personnel of the two sides may conduct regular exchanges to avoid some strategic miscalculation and try their best to reach more consensuses by seeking common ground while putting aside divergences. .

In defense cooperation between China and Japan, Zhang Tuosheng, Chairman of Academic Committee of the China Foundation for International Strategic Studies (CFISS), said that both sides shall establish a security architecture in favor of regional peaceful development, and above all develop the regional multilateral security cooperation mechanism, such as the resumption of the Six-Party Talks, and ultimately to become a regional multilateral security cooperation organization. As far as both sides are concerned, Zhang added that a new type of relationship should be established in the region, featuring coordination, cooperation, balance and stability, mutual benefit and respect.

Both Chinese and Japanese scholars agree that the US has difficulties in deploying medium- range missiles in Asia

In addition to China-Japan security and defense relations, the U.S announced withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) and possible deployment of new missiles in Asia, among other issues, serves as another hotspot for experts attending the meeting.

Yoji Koda stated that deploying the midrange system in Asia is just an option that the US hasn't eliminated. In fact, it won't be so simple even if it starts to building new missiles now. The US does not currently have land-based conventional intermediate-range missiles, which must be deployed from scratch. And Mr. Koda believed that there was no such possibility that the US would deploy new missiles in Japan.

Yao Yunzhu also said that the US is said to deploy new missiles in the Asia Pacific region to deal with the threat from China after unilaterally exiting the INF, but it needs a process to resume the development and production of such missiles, which couldn’t take place overnight and needs not only adjusting the corresponding forces establishment system and setting up the corresponding forces, but also considering the deployable sites in its allies. Moreover, the candidate ally is caught between China and the US and must also consider its own domestic politics and national acceptance, so it will not be easy for the US to deploy new missiles in Asia.

Disclaimer: This article is originally published on thepaper.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.