China has called for the normalisation of relations with Japan while demanding that Tokyo correct Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan, in the first official meeting between a Japanese politician and a Chinese minister of Wang Yi’s seniority since relations deteriorated over the issue.
Wang, China’s foreign minister and top diplomat, met former Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Beijing on September 28. Iwaya was visiting as head of the Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade, a private organisation focused on economic and trade relations with China. The organisation’s delegation includes Japanese business executives.
Wang said bilateral relations were facing a “severe situation” and needed to be “normalised”. He said the immediate priority was for Japan to correct what Beijing described as erroneous statements and actions by its leadership concerning Taiwan.
The dispute centres on comments Takaichi made in parliament last November suggesting that Japan could become involved militarily if a crisis over Taiwan threatened the country’s security. Beijing has demanded that she withdraw the remarks, while the Japanese prime minister has declined to do so.
Iwaya, who has previously advocated dialogue with China, described the current state of bilateral relations as concerning, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. He said the trade association would seek to continue the legacy of its former chairman, Yohei Kono, and help restore relations to a more stable footing.
Iwaya also said Japan should not forget the lessons of its past and that Japanese politicians should maintain the country’s commitment to peaceful development.
Japan’s government has kept its distance from the visit, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara saying the meeting concerned the activities of a private-sector economic organisation. He nevertheless said that continued communication between Tokyo and Beijing was important precisely because the two governments have unresolved issues and differences.
The talks took place as China and Japan remain divided over Taiwan, Japan’s defence policies and historical issues. Wang referred to the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, which prosecuted Japanese war crimes after the Second World War, and warned that Japan faced another test of history. Beijing has increasingly linked its criticism of Japan’s defence expansion to its interpretation of Japan’s wartime past.
Tokyo has rejected Chinese claims that Japan is returning to militarism while pointing to the opacity of China’s own military expansion. At the same time, Japanese officials have continued to signal an interest in maintaining dialogue with Beijing.
The latest visit follows earlier contacts between Japanese lawmakers and Chinese officials. A delegation from the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians’ Union met senior Chinese officials earlier this month, while a smaller cross-party group had made a previous visit following Takaichi’s Taiwan comments. The contacts have prompted speculation about possible unofficial channels ahead of November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, where Takaichi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to attend.
At the same time, Tokyo is pursuing a significant expansion of its intelligence capabilities.
Takaichi chaired the first meeting of a 17-member expert panel on intelligence gathering and anti-espionage measures on September 28. She said strengthening intelligence capabilities was an urgent priority, citing China and North Korea’s military development, closer cooperation between China and Russia and growing cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
Her government plans to establish an independent intelligence agency modelled on the US Central Intelligence Agency by March 2028 and introduce legislation targeting espionage. Japan established a National Intelligence Bureau in July to coordinate intelligence gathering and analysis across government agencies. The bureau has about 700 personnel and operates under a National Intelligence Council headed by the prime minister.
The government is also considering measures against illicit transfers of advanced technology and attempts by foreign actors to influence public opinion through disinformation. Takaichi has said Japan’s lack of dedicated anti-espionage legislation leaves gaps in its ability to detect and prosecute suspected spies.
China has detained more than a dozen Japanese nationals over the past decade on espionage or national-security-related allegations, according to Japan’s Foreign Ministry, while Tokyo has also expanded scrutiny of foreign investment through a system modelled on the US Committee on Foreign Investment.
The simultaneous diplomatic contacts with Beijing and expansion of Japan’s intelligence institutions reflect two parallel strands of Tokyo’s current policy: maintaining channels for dialogue with China while strengthening mechanisms designed to address perceived foreign security and influence risks.
