Japan and China foreign ministers meet after Taiwan-related dispute

Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on 23 July 2026 that he had met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Manila. Motegi said they discussed bilateral relations on Wednesday afternoon and said continued dialogue was extremely important.

Japanese media, including Kyodo News and NHK, said it was the first meeting between the ministers since a dispute began in November over comments by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan.

Relations between Japan and China had already been tense and worsened after Takaichi suggested that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on self-ruled Taiwan. China views Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force. After the remarks, China reacted angrily, imposed trade restrictions and told its citizens not to visit Japan.

China's foreign ministry did not confirm the meeting. Spokesman Lin Jian said that, as far as he knew, Wang had no meeting plans with the Japanese side during his time in Manila.