Monday’s Nikkei and Asahi wrote that the governments of Japan and China are making arrangements for Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to visit Tokyo in October for talks with Foreign Minister Motegi.

Nikkei wrote that a meeting with Prime Minister Suga may also be arranged for Wang. If realized, this would be the first face-to-face interaction between senior officials of Japan and China since the launch of the Suga administration. The paper speculated that Motegi and Wang will reaffirm the importance of maintaining stable bilateral relations between their nations and discuss such issues as the Senkaku Islands and Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong. The paper also conjectured that China is hoping to ascertain Suga’s policy toward Beijing through Wang’s trip to Tokyo amid its rising tensions with the United States. The paper wrote that while positioning the U.S.-Japan alliance as the cornerstone of Japan’s foreign policy, Suga has said he wants to continue dialogue with Beijing to resolve the issues between the two countries.

The paper also speculated that Secretary of State Pompeo, who is expected to visit Japan in early October, is likely to be the first senior foreign official to meet with Suga, and that Wang’s visit to Tokyo will likely take place afterward. The paper added that the quadrilateral talks with the United States, Australia, and India that will be held during the Secretary’s visit to Tokyo will be a venue for the four nations to share their economic and security concerns over China. The paper went on to say that the Suga administration will meet first with officials of its main ally, the United States, as well as quasi-allies Australia and India, to share views, and then balance its diplomacy by meeting with Chinese officials later, pointing out that Suga’s phone call with Chinese leader Xi on Friday also came after his calls with the leaders of the three quad partners.