Governor Denny Tamaki Holds Talks With Chinese Ambassador, Expressing Willingness Bolster Ties

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:08 JST, October 6, 2023

NAHA — Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki met with Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao in Naha on Friday and expressed his willingness to bolster ties between the prefecture and China.

“I want Okinawa’s regional diplomacy to become something that supports relations between our countries,” Tamaki said, touching on his July visit to Fujian Province and elsewhere in China. Okinawa Prefecture and Fujian have a sister province relationship.

During the meeting at the Okinawa prefectural government office, Wu mentioned that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who previously worked in Fuzhou in the province, has expressed interest in China’s ties with Okinawa. “There are many complex issues [between our countries], but I hope Okinawa will play the special role that only it can,” Wu said.

On Thursday, Okinawa Prefectural Assembly Speaker Noboru Akamine met with Wu and handed him a written request expressing concern and asking, among other things, that Chinese vessels refrain from intruding into Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands in Ishigaki in the prefecture. Tamaki did not make a similar request of the Chinese ambassador.