Li told Yohei Kono he had reservations about the restrictions and urged countries not to mix politics with economics during a meeting on Wednesday, the former Japanese foreign minister’s secretary, Kazuo Koga, said in a press briefing.
Chinese state media coverage of the meeting didn’t directly mention export controls or Europe’s economy, instead focusing on expanding business ties with Japan. “China will, as always, support Japanese companies in expanding investment in and cooperation with China,” Li said, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Bloomberg News
For its part, Tokyo is unhappy about the intrusion of Chinese coast guard ships into waters claimed by both sides but controlled by Japan, the recent arrest of a Japanese pharmaceutical executive and China’s increasingly aggressive military actions around Taiwan. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi also met with Kono on Thursday, telling the former Japanese official that Beijing’s relationship with Tokyo was at a “critical juncture,” according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.