According to a statement from the Chinese Ministry, Wang told Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi in a Japanese conversation that the two countries should ensure that bilateral relations are “not involved in the so-called confrontation between the great powers”.
Wang said that Beijing “hopes that Japan, as an independent country, is being deceived by some countries that hold a partisan view against China, rather than purposefully and rationally view China’s development.”
Japan, a US ally that maintains naval and air bases on Japanese soil, shares Washington’s concerns about increasing China’s military capability and its territorial claims in the surrounding seas.
However, Japan’s commercial and investment interests sometimes restrict criticism of the neighboring country.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihida Suga travels to Washington on April 16 to meet President Joe Biden at the first face-to-face summit of the US leader since he assumed office in January.
Unlike his predecessor Donald Trump, Biden insisted on rebuilding relations with European and Asian allies, while the U.S. Is preparing to compete with rising China.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi raised human rights in the Xinjiang region and Hong Kong, which are important to Biden.
The official also reiterated Japan’s protest against China’s presence in waters near a group of uninhabited islands controlled by Japan, but what Beijing claims is in the East Sea.
According to the Chinese statement, Wang opposed Japan’s interference in China’s internal affairs in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.
Taiwan is another point of potential conflict. Suga said earlier this week that Japan would cooperate with the United States on the issue.
China considers the island as its province, despite the fact that it functions as a sovereign political entity.
