Chinese envoys have gone on the coronavirus offensive, seeking to ease international concerns about the epidemic and pressing on with its diplomatic plans amid rising concerns about Beijing’s handling of the crisis and potential disruptions to its agenda.
Observers have said that several key gatherings between leaders of China and other countries might have to be postponed because of the outbreak, delaying investment and cooperation deals.
This includes plans for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Japan this year, the first by a Chinese head of state since Hu Jintao in 2008.
But in the strongest signal yet that Beijing wants to minimise coronavirus fallout on foreign affairs, China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, met Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, national security adviser Shigeru Kitamura and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for talks about the trip on Friday.
“There is no change in plans for President Xi’s visit at this moment,” Motegi said after the talks. “But as a state visit by a Chinese president is a once-in-a-decade event, it must accomplish something. We agreed to continue communicating to that end.”
Motegi also said the two countries agreed to step up cooperation on tackling the epidemic, which has infected 82,000 and killed more than 2,800, mostly in mainland China.
Yang, who is a member of the Communist Party’s top decision-making body, the Politburo, will also go to Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan over the next few days.
Lian Degui, a Japanese affairs expert from Shanghai International Studies University, said China was eager to show that its ties with Japan were back on track, after years of disputes over maritime claims and wartime legacies.
“[The state visit] will be a significant sign of thawing in relations due to the territorial issues, and will pave the way for a new era between the two countries,” Lian said.
China’s efforts to stop the coronavirus from being imported back into the country – including restrictions and quarantine measures for incoming foreign citizens – has triggered unease in Japan and South Korea, where new infections are on the rise.
Beijing has sought to ease those concerns, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi telling his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in phone calls on Wednesday that Beijing understood their difficulties and was willing to help.
China has also been criticised as being slow to respond to the emergency and not sharing information. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in particular, has accused China of suppressing information about the spread of coronavirus, saying censorship was harming the global response.
Xi tried to address some of that criticism in Beijing on Thursday in talks with Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga, when he said the Chinese government was making all-out efforts to contain the outbreak.
In addition to Battulga, Xi has met Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and World Health Organisation director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in the last two months to give assurances that China would step up efforts to counter the epidemic and was willing to help other countries to combat the virus.
Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan delivered a similar message in talks in Beijing with Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic on Thursday.
Chinese observers said the flurry of diplomatic activity could be an attempt to signal that China wanted to act as a responsible stakeholder in the international community.
“As the coronavirus outbreak goes global, China is trying to help other countries fight the disease together. This is a move showing that China cares about other countries, which helps boosts China’s international image,” said Xu Liping, an expert at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
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