Japan's Suga Holds First Phone Talk with China's Xi Jinping (Update)

Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister of Japan. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Kyodo News reported that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held his first phone call since taking office with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the evening of the 25th.

This was the first phone call between Prime Minister Suga, who took office on the 16th, and President Xi.

Starting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and U.S. President Donald Trump on the 20th, Prime Minister Suga subsequently held phone calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Charles Michel, President of the European Union (EU) Council, on the 22nd, and with Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the 23rd.

On the previous day, the 24th, he also had a phone call with President Moon Jae-in.

Earlier, Kyodo News reported that during this phone call, Prime Minister Suga and President Xi might exchange views regarding President Xi’s state visit to Japan, which was scheduled for April but postponed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Kyodo News also reported that the phone call between the two leaders was arranged after Japan proposed it and China accepted.