Beijing: Japan\u2019s top diplomat Takeshi Iwaya expressed \u201cserious concerns\u201d to his Chinese counterpart over Beijing\u2019s increasing military activity and the situation in the East and South China Sea, Tokyo said Wednesday.
\nIwaya also told Wang Yi at talks in Beijing that \u201cJapan is closely monitoring the Taiwan situation and recent military developments,\u201d a statement from Japan\u2019s foreign ministry said.<\/p>\n
Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya was due in Beijing on Wednesday for talks with counterpart Wang Yi and other top officials as Tokyo acknowledged \u201cchallenges and concerns\u201d in ties.
\nThe visit is Iwaya\u2019s first to China since becoming Japan\u2019s top diplomat earlier this year.
\nChina and Japan are key trading partners, but increased friction over disputed territories and military spending has frayed ties in recent years.
\nTensions also flared last year over Japan\u2019s decision to begin releasing into the Pacific Ocean some of the 540 Olympic swimming pools\u2019 worth of reactor cooling water amassed since the tsunami that led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster \u2014 an operation the UN atomic agency deemed safe.
\nChina branded the move \u201cselfish\u201d and banned all Japanese seafood imports, but in September said it would \u201cgradually resume\u201d the trade.
\nChina imported more than $500 million worth of seafood from Japan in 2022, according to customs data.
\nIwaya told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday that \u201cChina represents one of the most important bilateral relationships for us.\u201d
\n\u201cBetween Japan and China, there are various possibilities but also multiple challenges and concerns,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cBoth countries possess the heavy responsibilities for the peace and stability of our region and the international community,\u201d he added.
\nChina\u2019s foreign ministry said Beijing sought to \u201cstrengthen dialogue and communication\u201d in order to \u201cproperly manage differences\u201d with Japan.
\nBeijing will \u201cstrive to build a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship that meets the requirements of the new era,\u201d spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
\nJapan\u2019s brutal occupation of parts of China before and during World War II also remains a sore point, with Beijing accusing Tokyo of failing to atone for its past.
\nVisits by Japanese officials to the Yasukuni shrine that honors war dead \u2014 including convicted war criminals \u2014 regularly prompt anger from Beijing.
\nBeijing\u2019s more assertive presence around disputed territories in the region, meanwhile, has sparked Tokyo\u2019s ire, leading it to boost security ties with key ally the United States and other countries.
\nIn August, a Chinese military aircraft staged the first confirmed incursion by China into Japanese airspace, followed weeks later by a Japanese warship sailing through the Taiwan Strait for the first time.
\nBeijing\u2019s rare test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean in late September also drew strong protests from Tokyo, which said it had not been given advance notice.
\nChina also in August formally indicted a Japanese man held since last year on espionage charges.
\nThe man, an employee of the Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas, was held in March last year and placed under formal arrest in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beijing: Japan\u2019s top diplomat Takeshi Iwaya expressed \u201cserious concerns\u201d to his Chinese counterpart over Beijing\u2019s increasing military activity and the situation in the East and South China Sea, Tokyo said Wednesday. Iwaya also told Wang Yi at talks in Beijing that \u201cJapan is closely monitoring the Taiwan situation and recent military developments,\u201d a statement from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-451581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n