Serious differences: the foreign ministers of China and Japan are again advising personally for the first time

In the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to China in more than three years, Yoshimasa Hayashi met his new Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, in Beijing on Sunday. Both sides had previously made it clear that they are interested in improving relations, which are burdened by many controversial issues. The last visit by a Japanese foreign minister to China prior to the pandemic was in late 2019 – the last face-to-face meeting of both countries’ foreign ministers was in late 2020.

There are serious disagreements over Chinese territorial claims in the East China Sea, Japan’s close cooperation with the US, and the expansion of the Japanese military. The two countries are also arguing over Japan’s new restrictions on the export of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and the discharge of contaminated cooling water from the damaged nuclear reactor at Fukushima in the Pacific Ocean. In addition, the recent arrest of an employee of the Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas over allegations of espionage in China has put a strain on the relationship.

China’s head of state and party, Xi Jinping, and Japan’s head of government, Fumio Kishida, agreed on the foreign minister’s visit during sideline talks at the Asia-Pacific Summit (APEC) in Bangkok in November. Both sides also set up a “hotline” between their armed forces that had been planned for years to avoid potential misunderstandings in incidents, as reported by Japan’s Kyodo news agency.

Hayashi’s program also included talks with China’s new vice premier Li Qiang and top foreign policy official Wang Yi. The Japanese foreign minister will travel from China to Brussels for NATO talks, which will also be attended by his colleagues from other alliance partner countries such as South Korea, Australia and Ukraine. In December, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida identified China’s emerging power as his country’s greatest strategic challenge. (sda/dpa)