Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a 90-minute over the phone with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi on April 5, during which Motegi raised Tokyo’s concerns over: China’s treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang; Beijing’s electoral crackdown in Hong Kong; and recent incursions of Chinese vessels near the disputed, Japanese-administered Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Japan has "serious concerns" over China's treatment of Uyghur Muslims and Hong Kong. He expressed concerns about the repeated incursions of Chinese government vessels near the Japanese-administered Senkaku islands in the East China Sea. He also voiced concern over China's activities in the South China Sea, as well as the country's new law that empowers coast guard vessels to fire on foreign flagged ships within maritime jurisdiction determined by China. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry Wang Yi, in his reply repeated Beijing's territorial claims on the islands, which China calls the Diaoyu. Wang Yi also said, “China and Japan, as…close neighbours and the world's second and third-largest economies, should…respect each other, trust each other, [and] cooperate for mutual benefit.” He also added that “China hopes that Japan…will look at China's development objectively and rationally, rather than being carried away by some countries with prejudice against China.”

(Comment: The respective Foreign Ministry statements were at considerable variance with each other.)