Yasuo Fukuda, the former Japanese prime minister known for his efforts to build a stable relationship with China, has died at the age of 90, an official of the ruling party said on Monday.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) official told AFP that Fukuda died on 22 October.
Fukuda succeeded former prime minister Shinzo Abe and led Japan for a year from September 2007. Abe’s first term as prime minister had lasted only 12 months.
In office, Fukuda worked to improve relations with China and invited the then Chinese president Hu Jintao to visit Japan.
Hu’s visit in May 2008 was the first by a Chinese head of state to Japan in a decade.
In a joint statement the two leaders pledged to build “a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests”.
Fukuda resigned in September 2008 as his public support fell. He retired from politics in 2012.
But when relations between Tokyo and Beijing worsened over the ownership of disputed islands and historical issues, Fukuda visited China in 2014.
There he met President Xi Jinping. His effort paved the way for a summit between Xi and Abe during Abe’s second term as prime minister.
Beijing has remembered him as an “old friend”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a news conference: “Mr Yasuo Fukuda was an old friend of the Chinese people and made positive contributions to the improvement and development of China-Japan relations.”
Guo spoke of “the integrity and sense of responsibility of Japan’s older generation of statesmen” and called on “Japan’s current leadership” to reflect deeply.
Relations between the two countries worsened last year after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested that Japan could intervene militarily if Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, were attacked.
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