Japan's relations with its neighbors, China and South Korea have been recently strained. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been defending his recent visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. The United States has repeatedly called for Japan to improve its relations with its neighbors.
During his visit to Japan, US Deputy Secretary of State William Berns said in a meeting with Japan’s Defense Minister Itsunori onodera that the United States is concerned about the deteriorating relations between Japan and China, as well as South Korea.
And according to Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper, the US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy said the United States hopes Japan and neighboring countries could collaborate and maintain regional stability. Uichiro Niwa, who served as the Japanese Ambassador to China between 2010 to 2012, also called on Shinzo Abe to improve the relations with China in an interview.
"Japan is a trade-relying country. If we don’t take advantage of China’s market and boost exports to China, Japan will become poor. So I think Prime Minister Abe should improve relations with China as soon as possible, and help boost the economy." Former Japanese ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa said.
