China and Japan agreed that Beijing’s top diplomat should visit in 2025, adding to signs the two nations are repairing ties that have been strained in recent years.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi would make the journey at the earliest appropriate date, the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo said in a statement Wednesday. The visit would be the first by the Chinese minister handling foreign affairs to Japan in more than four years.
Earlier in the day, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met Wang in Beijing. The two agreed to introduce more measures to promote tourism between the countries, the Chinese government said in a statement. They also affirmed the importance of deepening communication on security, according to Japan’s statement.
Iwaya also met China’s premier, Li Qiang, on Wednesday, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
China has embarked on a diplomatic charm offensive with US allies and partners in recent months. Some foreign policy analysts link the shift to a desire by China for stability before the change of leadership in the US.
China is Japan’s biggest trading partner and Chinese tourists were a significant source of income for Japanese businesses before the pandemic. Yet Beijing is also Tokyo’s top security concern, primarily because of worries that China’s military poses a threat to Japan’s southwest island chain. Japan also worries that it could be drawn into any conflict over nearby Taiwan.
In the meeting with Wang, Iwaya called for the early release of Japanese nationals detained in China, the ministry in Tokyo said. Ties between the countries have been roiled in recent years due to high-profile detentions of Japanese people in China. In one instance, a Japanese executive at Astellas Pharma Inc. who was detained in Beijing was formally charged of espionage offenses.
Also testing relations, in September this year a Japanese schoolboy died in southern China after being stabbed, prompting senior Japanese officials to ask Beijing to deal with “untruthful and malicious” internet posts targeting their nation.
In a sign of efforts to soothe ties, China said in September it would move to end a ban on imports of Japanese seafood, a step taken in response to Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water into the sea from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The Nikkei newspaper reported Monday that China is considering lifting its ban in the first half of 2025. Chinese Premier Li Qiang may visit Japan in May or June, which could provide an opportunity for Beijing to inform Tokyo it would lift the ban, the newspaper said, citing Chinese government officials it didn’t name.
With assistance from Akemi Terukina and Jing Li.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
