Japan Foreign Minister to Visit Central Asia

Tokyo, April 13 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is planning to visit Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan during his country's Golden Week holiday period from late April to early May, government sources said Wednesday. As the two Central Asian countries have strong relations with Russia, Hayashi will explain to officials there that Japan does not accept any unilateral change to the status quo by force. He plans to visit Mongolia as well. Central Asia is included in China's Belt and Road infrastructure development initiative, while Tokyo seeks stronger ties with Central Asian countries in the areas of economy, infrastructure and energy. For the first half of this year, Japan is arranging a meeting of foreign ministers with five Central Asian countries including Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. END