Japan’s China-friendly foreign minister to ‘explain’ defence policy changes to Wang Yi

Yoshimasa Hayashi’s visit to Beijing will mark the first time a Japanese foreign minister has been to China in three years

Some conservatives in Japan are concerned that Hayashi will be ‘swayed’ on defence issues, given his political and business ties to China

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Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:35am, 19 Dec 2022Updated: 3:15pm, 19 Dec 2022

Recent changes to Japan’s defence policy are expected to dominate the agenda when Tokyo’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi travels to Beijing to meet his Chinese counterpart before the end of December.

In its revised National Security Strategy, Japan is set to refer to China as an “unprecedented strategic challenge”, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has also announced plans for a major increase in defence spending over the next five years.

Hayashi visit will be the first by a Japanese foreign minister in three years. Details of the trip are being discussed by the two governments, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.

Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have worsened in those three years, with the two sides diverging on a number of issues, most notably on Taiwan and territorial issues in the East and South China Seas.

Yoshimasa Hayashi (left) speaks with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi via video link in May. Photo: AFP

Japanese media reports say Hayashi will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to “explain” the reasoning behind changes in Japan’s defence stance, although critics of what they call his dovish approach to Beijing see no need for Tokyo to justify its security policies.

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