Chinese FM meets president of Eurasia Group

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, in Beijing on Friday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that as the world's two largest economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China and the United States should shoulder the responsibilities of and play the role of major countries.

China and the United States working together to meet global challenges and achieve win-win results serves the interests of the two peoples and meets the common expectations of the rest of the world, Wang noted.

China will respond to all uncertainties in today's world with its own certainty, continue to hold the international moral high ground, and make efforts for the overall progress and development of mankind.

Wang expressed the hope that the U.S. side will earnestly implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, establish an objective and rational understanding of China, change the mindset of zero-sum game, and work together with China to continue to explore the right way for the two major countries to get along with each other on this planet.

"I hope the U.S. can meet China halfway, embrace a more objective and rational perception of China, change the zero-sum game mindset, and work with China to continue actively exploring the correct way for the two major powers to coexist on this planet," said Wang.

The Eurasia Group welcomes the relationship between the two countries showing signs of stabilization through bilateral efforts, Bremmer said, adding that the company is willing to continue offering suggestions and proposals for the long-term peaceful coexistence between the United States and China, and hopes that the two major countries will work together to maintain a stable international order.

"I believe personally, that the work you have put in, and the work that my friend Jake Sullivan has put in to the relationship between the U.S. and China, the most important bilateral relationship in the world, has been really appreciated. It's really meaningful. And we are in materially a better place now," said Bremmer.

Chinese FM meets president of Eurasia Group

Japanese experts said that the ruling coalition of the country will face considerable challenges and uncertainties in future political and economic governance as it loses majority in the lower house. 

Japan's Diet convened for an extraordinary session on Thursday. The focus will be on reviewing the supplementary budget for fiscal year 2024 and discussions on amending the Political Funds Control Act.

The session will be the first full-fledged debate since the governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito Party lost their majority in last month's lower house election.

Shozaburo Sakai, former president of Chuo University, a leading Japanese university in Tokyo, said as a minority government, the ruling coalition will face great challenges in promoting political and economic reforms.

"The Ishiba administration, which is in power as a minority, now relies most on winning the support of public opinion. Because the administration has become a minority in the lower house, it may face a challenge of a no-confidence motion at any time. If a no-confidence motion is proposed [by the opposition party], the minority government might be overthrown at any time," he said. 

Sakai said that the current domestic prices in Japan has continued to rise, the cost of living for the people continues to rise, and raising the policy interest rate and curbing the depreciation of the yen are direct means to deal with rising prices. 

However, under the influence of the previous long-term negative interest rate policy, the survival of small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan depends on bank loans, and the interest rate hikes are fatal to these enterprises, according to Sakai. 

"The Ishiba administration needs to consider the cost of living of the people, so in order to curb price increases, it needs to guide the yen to appreciate steadily. However, if the yen is guided to appreciate, small and medium-sized enterprises will be in trouble and may even go bankrupt, which creates a difficult situation," he said. 

Japan's ruling coalition to face multiple governing challenges: expert