About 30 years ago, diplomatic documents revealed the inside story of preliminary negotiations between Japan and China over the visit of Emperor Akihito to China at the time.
At that time, the director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' section in charge proposed to the Chinese side that the conclusion should be postponed, saying that it was not possible to predict whether or not Prime Minister Kaifu, who had an unstable foundation within the party, would continue in office. It means that
In August 1991, then Prime Minister Kaifu visited China for the first time as a leader of the G7 = seven major countries after the Tiananmen Incident. In response to the request to realize the Emperor's visit to China, he indicated that he would carefully consider it.
In the diplomatic documents released this time, while discussions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held prior to this meeting were of the opinion that "a visit to China must be made someday in order to settle the past," it stated that "the Chinese It can be seen that there were also indications such as "You should not ride because there is a risk of being used for a purpose."
In another document from the same period, Yuji Miyamoto, then Chief of the China Division, conveyed the Japanese way of thinking to Mr. Wang Yi, who was the current Minister of Foreign Affairs of China and was the Counselor of the Chinese Embassy at the time. It is written.
In this, Mr. Miyamoto said, "Whether or not Prime Minister Kaifu will continue in office this fall is a sensitive issue. I think it would be appropriate for the Cabinet to consider it."
In an interview with NHK, Miyamoto said, "Considering the diplomatic positives and the negatives arising from domestic affairs and relations with the imperial family, I judged that the emperor's visit to China was premature. "My remarks were understood and accepted by those in higher positions."
Prime Minister Kaifu resigned in November, and under the next Miyazawa Cabinet, a visit to China was realized the following year.
Hidemi Shiroyama, a professor at Hokkaido University who is familiar with diplomatic relations between Japan and China, pointed out, "It is extremely interesting that the Japanese side was quite negative about the Emperor's visit to China being highlighted in 1991." I'm here.