Japan and China top diplomats meet in South Korea before 3-way regional talks

Top Japanese and Chinese diplomats met for bilateral talks on Saturday to try to address concerns such as China's ban on Japanese seafood, which has hurt Japanese exporters.

Yoko Kamikawa, Japan's Foreign Minister, and Wang Yi, China's Foreign Minister, met at Busan, South Korea's southern port city. On Sunday, they will join their host, Park Jin, for three-way talks.

Kamikawa, who assumed office in September and saw Wang for the first time in person, described their meeting as "extremely meaningful." She stated that they had agreed to begin security and economic consultations, but provided no other specifics.

On the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco ten days ago, Japanese and Chinese leaders reached a hazy agreement on resolving the seafood conflict. China has imposed a ban on Japanese seafood since the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima nuclear power facility began leaking treated radioactive effluent into the sea on August 24.

Japan, South Korea, and China's foreign ministers will meet on Sunday to lay the groundwork for resuming a trilateral meeting of their presidents, which has not taken place since 2019 owing to the COVID-19 outbreak and their delicate ties.