Japan, China to hold in-person foreign ministerial talks on Aug. 4

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi are planning to hold in-person talks on Thursday on the sidelines of a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in Cambodia, government sources said Saturday.

The top Japanese diplomat is expected to air concerns over repeated intrusions by Chinese coast guard ships into Japanese waters around the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands, as well as China’s intensifying military activities near Japanese waters.

The uninhabited islets in the East China Sea are called Diaoyu by China.

It will be the first face-to-face dialogue of foreign ministers of Japan and China since November 2020 amid heightening tensions between the two countries ahead of the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties on Sept. 29.

Hayashi is expected to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and call on China to take responsible action, according to the sources. China has close ties with and has refrained from condemning Moscow.

He also plans to stress the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the necessity of international cooperation toward the denuclearization of North Korea, they said.

During his visit to Cambodia, Hayashi and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin are slated to hold one-on-one talks. He is also considering holding a three-way meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES