Japanese media reported that Beijing abruptly proposed postponing the Japan–China agriculture ministers’ meeting, possibly in response to Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung’s (林佳龍) late-July visit to Japan, in what was seen as an attempt to pressure Tokyo.

Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun (韓俊), after attending the August 11 Japan–China–South Korea trilateral agricultural ministers’ meeting in Incheon, South Korea, had been scheduled to meet Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi in Tokyo in August. The two were expected to sign a memorandum of cooperation aimed at preventing the overseas transfer of plant varieties developed in Japan. However, Beijing made a last-minute request to cancel the talks.

The report said the move came after Lin’s meetings in Japan with the former minister for economic security and a member of the House of Representatives. Beijing lodged a protest with Tokyo, accusing Japan of “providing a stage for anti-China separatist activities” and “sending the wrong message.” The report added that the incident underscored China’s wariness over deepening political ties between Taiwan and Japan.

A senior Japanese official said the cancellation would not deter Tokyo, noting that Koizumi had already met this month with Taiwanese agriculture officials visiting South Korea.