Hayashi’s meeting with Qin Gang was the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to Beijing in three years, as the two rival Asian powers seek common ground amid rising regional tensions.

An Astellas Pharma employee was arrested in China for unknown reasons, a company spokesman said a week ago. At least 16 other Japanese have been detained in China since 2015 on suspicion of espionage, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.

“I protested the recent detention of a Japanese citizen in Beijing and expressed our strong opinion on the matter, including his early release,” Hayashi told reporters.

Qin replied that China would “handle (the case) in accordance with the law,” according to China’s foreign ministry.

Hayashi said that Japan is committed to transparency in the judicial process and asked China to provide a fair and safe business environment. He did not elaborate on China’s reaction.

According to him, the Japanese minister expressed Tokyo’s serious concern about China’s increased military activity, including its rapprochement with Russia and its maritime presence in the East China Sea.

“We both reaffirmed the importance of continuing the dialogue on issues such as national security,” Hayashi said.

Hayashi noted that he spoke with Chin about “the importance of securing peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.” Beijing said that Jin had warned Japan “not to interfere in the Taiwan issue and not to undermine China’s sovereignty in any way,” stressing that Taiwan was “the core of China’s core interests.”

Tensions have escalated over Taiwan, which Beijing considers its territory. China has never renounced the use of force to control Taiwan. The democratically elected government of Taipei rejects Beijing’s claims and says that only its people can decide its future.

Japan also filed a diplomatic complaint in August after five ballistic missiles fired by the Chinese military landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, near the disputed islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

After Tokyo on Friday announced restrictions on the export of semiconductor manufacturing equipment following the US, Chin warned his colleague “not to cooperate with the bad guys.”

The restrictions are in line with similar measures by the US and the Netherlands aimed at curbing China’s ability to make modern chips.

Hayashi told reporters that the restrictions “are not directed at any particular country.”

Despite their differences, China and Japan have agreed to resume trilateral talks with South Korea, Hayashi said, calling the deal a “significant achievement.”

“We agreed to continue close communication at various levels, including at the level of ministers and leadership,” Hayashi added.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the first bilateral summit in almost three years.

Source: Reuters.