The Japanese government is making final arrangements to appoint former Foreign Ministry top bureaucrat and Asian affairs chief Kenji Kanasugi as the next ambassador to China, sources familiar with Japan-China relations said Saturday.
The 64-year-old elite diplomat, currently the ambassador to Indonesia, will be Japan’s first ambassador to China in seven years to not take Chinese language training, focusing on advancing ties with China, at the ministry’s so-called China School.
Daunting tasks lie ahead for Kanasugi as ties between Japan and China remain strained.
Opposed to Japan’s release of treated radioactive water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which began in August, Beijing has banned all seafood imports from Japan.
Chinese authorities on Thursday formally arrested an employee of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma, detained since March on suspicion of espionage. However, details of how he may have violated the counterespionage law and criminal code in China remain unknown.
Kanasugi has served as former senior deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, one of the top administrative positions at the ministry, and head of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau.