Tokyo: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held telephone talks on Saturday night and reaffirmed their close cooperation on issues related to China.

Hayashi and Blinken also discussed the situation with North Korea and reiterated the need to strengthen cooperation between their countries and among the two plus South Korea, while condemning North Korea’s ballistic missile launches on Thursday.

Blinken was on his way to China and also had phone talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin. Blinken told Park that he will handle U.S.-China relations responsibly.

The U.S. foreign chief will make his first visit to China. He is expected to meet with senior Chinese officials in Beijing on Sunday and Monday.

JIJI Press