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Nikkei Asia (8 April 2021)

Katsuji Nakazawa

The 90-minute phone call between Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that took place Monday was held at China’s request.

It did not matter that China was on holiday. While the public was visiting graves and paying tribute to ancestors on the last day of the “tomb sweeping” Qingming Festival, Wang had an urgent message to convey to his counterpart in Tokyo.

Wang’s flurry of activity reflected Chinese President Xi Jinping’s restlessness ahead of the first in-person meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden, to be held in Washington on April 16.

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