Tokyo: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi will pay a state visit to Beijing from April 1-2 to mark the 45th anniversary of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty and discuss a range of issues regarding bilateral relationship with his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang.
The top diplomat’s visit could be clouded due to complications in relations between the two countries.
On Friday, the Japanese government imposed export restrictions on China’s semiconductors construction elements in order to prevent Beijing from establishing its own chip production.
On Sunday, a Japanese man working for Astellas Pharma company was arrested in Beijing for allegedly violating Chinese law.
Hayashi’s visit will be the first trip to China by a Japanese Foreign Minister in over 3 years. In 2019, two top Japanese diplomats paid a visit to Beijing: Taro Kono was in China in February, and his successor in office Toshimitsu Motegi accompanied then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in December. Since then, the two countries’ foreign ministers only contacted each other via phone calls.
