China and Japan in talks for trip by Japanese foreign minister
- Yoshimasa Hayashi could become Tokyo’s first top diplomat to visit since 2019
- Ties between the two countries have been strained by Taiwan, Ukraine and Covid
Asked on Friday about a possible trip by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said contact was ongoing and “very important”.
“China and Japan have been maintaining communication on the visit of Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi to China,” Wang said.
There has been speculation that Beijing and Tokyo will use the start of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s third five-year term as an opportunity to improve ties.
Japanese broadcaster NHK reported earlier this week that Hayashi was making arrangements to visit China and meet his counterpart Wang Yi.
If the trip goes ahead, this will be the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to China since December 2019, when Toshimitsu Motegi accompanied then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe to Beijing on the sidelines of the China-Japan-South Korea summit.
At that time, Tokyo was looking to improve ties with Beijing partly as a result of their own strained relationships with Washington, and the two sides were in talks for a state visit by Xi to Japan.