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The foreign minister of China Wang Yi has warned Japan against teaming up with the United States ahead of the US-Japan summit scheduled next week. On Monday evening, Wang Yi informed his Japanese counterpart in a phone call that their two countries should ensure that bilateral relations do not get involved in the alleged confrontation between major countries. Wang Yi also said, “China hopes that Japan, as an independent country, will look at China’s development in an objective and rational way, instead of being misled by some countries holding biased view against China”. Point to be noted that Japan is a close US ally and hosting some major American naval and air force bases, shares US concerns about Chinese military buildup and claims to territory in the South and East China Seas.

However, its major trade and investment interests in China have reined in criticism of its larger neighbor. The Prime Minister of Japan, Yoshihide Suga has planned to visit Washington on 16^th April to meet President Joe Biden. It will mark the US leader’s first in-person summit since taking office in January. Biden has also stressed rebuilding ties with European and Asian allies as the US prepares for competition with a rising China. The foreign minister of Japan, Toshimitsu Motegi raised issues related to human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang region in China.

The Japanese foreign minister also renewed Japan’s protest against China’s presence in waters around a group of uninhabited, Japan-controlled islands that China claims in the East China Sea. It is noteworthy that the Chinese statement said Wang opposed Japanese interference in the internal affairs of China in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Taiwan is another potential flashpoint as PM Suga said earlier this week that Japan would cooperate with the US on the issue. China regards the self-governing island as a runaway province that should be under Chinese rule. China recently sent an aircraft carrier group to waters near Taiwan for training exercises as a signal to the US and its allies.