According to local media reports, Japan's foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, is planning to visit China this weekend, marking the first such trip in approximately three years. The visit is seen as an effort to maintain stable relations between the two largest economies in Asia amid escalating tensions. During his two-day visit, Hayashi is expected to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang, although he has not confirmed the specific dates for the visit. In recent years, relations between Japan and China have become increasingly strained as Japan aligns itself more closely with the US and NATO, while China strengthens its ties with Russia, as evidenced by President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Moscow.
The recent conflict between Japan and China was triggered by China's detention of an employee of Astellas Pharma Inc., a Japanese drug company, on suspicion of spying. Tokyo has demanded the man's release, but this is just one of 17 detentions of Japanese citizens in China since 2015, according to a Japanese Foreign Ministry official who spoke in parliament. Despite these tensions, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged to maintain stable relations with China, Japan's largest trading partner. He made efforts to improve relations at a summit on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Cooperation Forum in Bangkok in November and agreed to restart trilateral talks with China during a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier this month.