China urges Japan to ‘make independent choices’ amid balloon row

Top diplomat Wang Yi tells Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi that unilateralism and decoupling aren’t in the interests of any party

The pair met in Munich on Saturday, after Japan last week said Chinese spy balloons may have entered its airspace in recent years

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Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi (left) meets Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, in Munich on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:00pm, 20 Feb 2023Updated: 6:47pm, 20 Feb 2023

Beijing has urged Tokyo to “make independent choices” after Japan followed the US in expressing concern over suspected Chinese spy balloons entering its airspace.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi also told Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi during talks in Munich on Saturday that unilateralism and decoupling were not in the interests of any party.

Wang said “the Japanese side should recognise the situation and make independent choices”, according to a readout from Beijing.

The diplomats met for 50 minutes on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. Photo: Xinhua

The meeting – held on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference – comes as the two nations have been at loggerheads over disputes in the East China Sea and Taiwan, and after Tokyo said Chinese spy balloons may have entered its airspace in recent years.

In a move to ease tensions, China and Japan have agreed to hold a security dialogue this week – the first since 2019. Sun Weidong, China’s foreign vice-minister, will travel to Japan on Tuesday for the talks and other regular diplomatic consultations, the ministry said on Monday.

In Munich, Wang, who heads the office of the Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, called on Japan to “eliminate internal and external interference” and to work with China to stabilise relations, according to the Chinese readout.

It was the first meeting between diplomats from the two countries since Japan last week said at least three unidentified flying objects that flew over its airspace from 2019 to 2021 were “strongly suspected” to have been Chinese unmanned spy balloons.

During the talks, Hayashi again conveyed Japan’s position on flying objects that had been detected in its territory in the past, according to a readout from the Japanese foreign ministry.