THE Japanese Government officially approved the appointment of a new ambassador to China, months after the last nominee died before he could take up his post and as tensions simmer between Beijing and Tokyo over disputed islands.

    The appointment of Masato Kitera, 59, will be effective Monday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. He will begin his service in Beijing in late December, replacing the current ambassador Uichiro Niwa.

    Niwa was originally to be replaced several months ago, however, his chosen successor, Shinichi Nishimiya, abruptly died of heart failure after collapsing on the street only days after being appointed.

    Kitera is set to become Tokyo’s point man in the ongoing dispute over an island chain in the East China Sea, the Diaoyu Islands.

    The Japanese Government’s “purchase” of parts of the islands in September provoked sometimes violent anti-Japanese demonstrations across China that targeted Japanese businesses. A subsequent consumer boycott of Japanese products has dented the huge trade ties between the two countries, notably in the automobile and home electronics sectors.

    A veteran diplomat in the same vein as Nishimiya, Kitera has been director general for African affairs at Japan’s Foreign Ministry, and has served at Japanese embassies in France and Thailand.

    Given the deteriorating ties with China, Tokyo has taken great pains to select a suitable candidate, Japan’s NHK Television reported.

    There were calls in Tokyo to appoint diplomats with expertise on China as the country’s ambassador, but NHK reported that the government was having trouble finding the ideal candidate.

    Kitera was chosen because of his renowned mediating skills and the hope that he could improve Sino-Japanese ties, which have been pushed to their lowest point in more than two decades in the territorial row, NHK said.

    Kitera will have a lot of weight on his shoulders after he arrives in Beijing, as his primary task will be to rebuild bilateral relations between China and Japan in the wake of the still tense islands dispute.

    Observers said the appointment of Kitera, a key member of the Japanese Cabinet, demonstrates Tokyo’s desire to better deliver their intentions for dialogue to Beijing.

    Yang Bojiang, a professor of Japanese studies at the University of International Relations in Beijing, said Kitera is expected to do a better job than his predecessor in enhancing bilateral political dialogues.

    Niwa, an experienced entrepreneur in Japan before his mission to China, reflects some of the country’s interests in China, and his role in deepening bilateral economic and trade ties has been “undeniable,” but he has not done as expected by Tokyo in delivering political messages, Yang said.

    Niwa warned in June that the Tokyo metropolitan government’s “purchase plan” would cause “a grave crisis in Japan-China relations.”

    His remark was heavily criticized by both the ruling and opposition parties for “expressing differing views.”

    The Japanese Government’s announcement Sept. 10 of a final decision to “purchase” some of the islands put bilateral ties into a sharp standoff.

    Protests erupted across China and the diplomatic deadlock is threatening trade ties between Asia’s two biggest economies.

    Japan’s hardline stance over the island dispute is hampering its ambassadors’ efforts to promote economic diplomacy between the two countries, analysts said.

    As a versatile diplomat, Kitera’s appointment also lays out the future blueprint of China-Japan ties, because the two countries are taking a greater role in the global arena in fields of both cooperation and diplomatic spats, Yang said.

    IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the shaky global economy needs Japan and China to be fully engaged, warning the world could not afford to have the two distracted by the dispute.

    However, some Chinese analysts do not expect Kitera to have much success. “Naming someone who has no China experience simply tells us that Tokyo does not pay much attention to Sino-Japanese ties,” said Zhou Yongsheng , a Japanese affairs expert at China Foreign Affairs University.

    Kitera has long been involved in the economic affairs of the Foreign Ministry since joining in 1976. A long stint in the Economic Cooperation Bureau saw him become director of the Grant Aid Division. He has been a minister to the World Trade Organization, the United Nations and the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development. Foreign assignments have included Japan’s Embassies in France and Thailand.

    He has never been posted to China and does not belong to the “China school” group of diplomats trained to speak Chinese and handle ties with Beijing, but for roughly two years from 1991 he was deputy chief of the ministry’s China and Mongolia Division.

    Kitera, an aide to the prime minister’s office, served as the secretary general for African affairs at the Foreign Ministry and led a Japan-U.N. joint African aid conference in 2008.

    As deputy director of the Economic Affairs Bureau, he maintained Japan’s two-year ban on beef imports from the United States over health concerns.

    After serving as director general of the ministry’s International Cooperation Bureau and deputy vice foreign minister in charge of the ministry chief’s secretariat, Kitera was appointed assistant chief Cabinet secretary Sept. 11 — the same day Japan “nationalized” three of the main disputed islets, enraging China and sending tensions in the East China Sea soaring.

    (SD-Agencies)

    Kitera not best choice: analysts