Japan FM to visit China as Tokyo imposes new export controls

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi says he will visit China this weekend for talks with his counterpart Qin Gang, becoming Japan’s first top diplomat to do so in more than three years amid growing friction between the two countries, including new Japanese export controls and the detention of a Japanese national in Beijing. During the April 1-2 visit, Hayashi is expected to demand the release of the detained Japanese national, discuss security concerns in the region and ask China to act “responsibly” on global issues including Russia’s war on Ukraine. His trip comes after Japan announced it will tighten export controls on 23 materials used for semiconductor manufacturing, seen as an effort to limit China’s access to advanced chipmaking technology.