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AP – China unilaterally changes joint document, Japan wants correction

China released a unilaterally rewritten Chinese-language version of a joint document issued with Japan on the occasion of a recent ministerial economic dialogue in Beijing after both nations agreed on its content and Tokyo wants the version corrected, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and a diplomatic source of the two countries said Sunday. …

It is extremely unusual for one side to unilaterally rewrite the contents of a joint document that has already been agreed upon and could affect the two nations’ efforts to build mutually beneficial strategic relations.

The Beijing meeting took place under a new dialogue framework set up to enhance mutually beneficial economic ties. Six Cabinet members from Tokyo participated and China was represented by Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan and other ministers.

Tokyo released the full text of the document in Japanese to reporters in Beijing on Dec. 1, while China released its version on Dec. 3 and it was posted on the website of China’s Commerce Ministry.

The Japanese Embassy in Beijing, however, found out later that the Chinese-language text was different from the initially agreed upon one and that sections referring to Japanese hopes for the yuan’s appreciation and the importance of China’s participation in the Energy Charter Treaty had been deleted.

Well, sweet, I didn’t know you could do that! Somebody ought to tell Iran, cuz they’ve been going through a lot of trouble hiding the fact that they’re breaking the diplomatic agreements, when all they had to have done was rewrite them, then do everything without all that extra expense!