Japan, China set up military hotline ahead of foreign minister Hayashi’s Beijing visit

Japan and China on Friday set up a military hotline in an effort to strengthen their capability of managing and controlling maritime and air incidents. Such incidents have become a regular affair between the two neighbours,mostly due to China'saggressive patrolling of the disputed waters in the East China Sea. The development just comes ahead of Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi's visit to Beijing this weekend.

Japan's foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is scheduled to visit Beijing for two days from Saturday to discuss a range of issues, including the detention of an Astellas Pharma Inc employee.

Hayashi told reporters in Japan that he will meet the Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang during the visit for "an honest and frank discussion to create a constructive and stable relationship."

The visit comes after the Japanese government announced plans to restrict exports of 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, aligning its technology trade with a United States-ledpush to curb China’s ability to make advanced chips.

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China-Japan ties are also clouded by detention ofa Japanese man employed by Astellas Pharma in China for unknown reasons.

The Japanese government has asked Chinese authorities to release the man.

"We plan to make our position clear on a range of issues, including these during my visit to China,"Hayashi said when asked whether he would raise the issue of the Astellas employee and the release of water into the ocean from the wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Hayashi’s visit to China follows leadership-level talks held on the sidelines of an international summit last November, the first between the two countries in almost three years.

At the time, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he conveyed his concerns over China’s increasing maritime military presence but also said the two leaders agreed to reopen diplomatic channels of communications including a visit by Japan’s foreign minister to China in the near future.

(With inputs from agencies)

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