Japan foreign minister gets China invite; ‘paying close attention’ to Peng Shuai issue
- Yoshimasa Hayashi said in an interview that his counterpart Wang Yi on Thursday invited him to China but ‘no arrangements’ were yet in progress
- Asked about Washington’s proposed ‘diplomatic boycott’ of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Hayashi said Tokyo would proceed based on its own point of view
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Sunday said his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi invited him for an official visit during a recent phone conversation, but arrangements were not in progress.
Hayashi, who became Japan’s top diplomat on November 10, and Wang agreed on the need to stabilise relations between their countries but remained apart on territorial and human rights issues when they spoke on Thursday.
“Nothing is set, and no arrangements are being made,” Hayashi said in a Fuji TV interview.
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Mutual visits by government officials from the two countries have also been largely on hiatus during the pandemic, and Wang last visited Japan a year ago.
Hayashi, who was appointed after last month’s general election, has been seen as relatively friendly towards China, having previously headed a lawmakers’ group promoting exchanges between the two countries.
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Campbell, speaking at an event of the US Institute of Peace, a Washington think tank, did not explain in detail what the meeting would entail.
However, diplomatic sources previously indicated that Tokyo has explored the idea of hosting the second in-person Quad summit, hoping to convene it as early as next spring.
“We’ll work with them on timing and to make sure we follow through on what we’ve committed to, which is extraordinarily important, but also look at new initiatives as well,” he said.
During the first in-person Quad summit in Washington in September, leaders of the four countries committed to a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and agreed to hold a leaders’ meeting annually.
Campbell said the Quad is not a “formal alliance” and the current consensus is that “it is appropriate to be considered as an informal gathering”.
“I do not believe we will take steps in the near term to institutionalise” the group, he added.
