Niwa says China, Japan like ‘married couple’  

日本駐華大使離任回國 稱期待面向未來日中關系

日本駐華大使丹羽宇一郎28日結束任期，返回日本。他在離任感言中表示，擁有數千年交流歷史的日中兩國雖然關系時好時壞，但互為重要鄰邦，要長久地相處下去，期待面向未來的日中關系。

Beijing (CNS) -- Retired Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa on Wednesday said that China and Japan are important neighbors and that he expects a forward-looking Sino-Japan relationship.

At his final news conference before returning to Japan on 26 November, Niwa said that China and Japan are closer than a married couple.

Niwa has made efforts to promote economic cooperation and non-governmental communication between the two countries, said Yang Bojiang, director of Japanese Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

But he is not a career diplomat, Yang said, adding that Niwa wasn't in accordance with the Japanese government in security and political matters, which had caused discontent in the Japanese conservative camp.

Appointed in 2010, Niwa was the first Japanese ambassador to China from the private sector. He is succeeded by Masato Kitera, a former assistant chief cabinet secretary.

Niwa opposed Japan's illegal "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands in June this year and said it would cause a grave crisis in relations between the two countries.