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Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Friday he will visit China this weekend for talks with his counterpart Qin Gang, becoming Japan’s first top diplomat to do so in more than three years amid growing frictions between the two countries, including a recent flap over the detention of a Japanese national in Beijing.
Hayashi hopes to “engage in a candid and in-depth exchange of views toward establishing a constructive and stable relationship” at his planned talks with Qin and other officials during his April 1-2 visit, he told a news conference.
He is expected to demand the release of the detained Japanese national, discuss security concerns in the region and ask China to act “responsibly” on global issues including Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Hayashi noted an agreement between the leaders of the two countries to build constructive and stable relations but said “Japan-China relations are facing many challenges and concerns, although there are various possibilities (for cooperation).
