He made the remarks on Monday while meeting Takeshi Iwaya, a former Japanese foreign minister now leading some fifty  business leaders to Beijing to promote bilateral trade. Tensions between the two Asian economic powers have escalated since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested in November 2025 that Tokyo might intervene in an attack on Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. In response, China warned its citizens against travelling to Japan and imposed trade restrictions reportedly causing sharp drops in rare earth mineral supplies to Japanese firms. According to a Chinese foreign ministry readout, Wang said the relationship "is once more facing a grave situation, and is waiting to be normalized again." He added that Japan's "most urgent task is to correct the erroneous remarks and actions of the country's leaders on the Taiwan question." Iwaya's visit follows a trip by sitting Japanese lawmakers last month that made little progress. Before departing Tokyo on Sunday, Iwaya said: "Because these are difficult times, it is important to seek paths to improvement through dialogue”, pledging to do "everything I can”. Iwaya, foreign minister until October 2025, remains influential within Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party, though some members have criticized him as soft on China. Japan's government said it was "aware" of the Chinese announcement, describing it as relating to "a private economic organization”. Spokesman Minoru Kihara stressed that "precisely because there are pending issues and differences of opinion”, maintaining communication across various levels remains important. In December 2024, Iwaya visited Wang in Beijing as foreign minister, when the two agreed to relax visa rules for tourists. (Bssnews)