Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi meeting in Tokyo in November 2020 [EPA=Yonhap News File Photo]

China and Japan are offering conflicting accounts over whether their top diplomats had a "brief encounter" in Manila, Philippines, following a virtual suspension of official government-to-government dialogue since last November.

On the 25th, the state-run English-language broadcaster China Global Television Network (CGTN) reported, "During his visit to Manila, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not meet or have any conversation with the Japanese side."

This is interpreted as China's "rebuttal" to the remarks made by Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on the 23rd.

On the 23rd, Foreign Minister Motegi told reporters in Manila, where the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum was held, that he had a brief conversation with Minister Wang regarding bilateral relations.

He explained that the two foreign ministers happened to run into each other while attending to their respective schedules at the ASEAN meeting venue, which led to the conversation.

Although Foreign Minister Motegi stated that he discussed bilateral relations with Minister Wang, the specific details of the conversation remain unknown.

The last official contact between the Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers was a phone call on October 28 of last year to mark Motegi's inauguration. Shortly after that call, Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-Prime Minister Takaichi held an in-person meeting in Gyeongju on October 31 of the same year.

However, the dialogue between the two countries effectively broke down after Prime Minister Takaichi remarked in parliament a week later, on November 7, that "if (China) were to use warships to engage in (the use of) force (against Taiwan), I believe that could constitute a 'survival-threatening situation' (which would allow for Japanese military intervention)," to which China responded by condemning the statement as interference in its internal affairs.

Since then, China has pressured Japan by issuing advisories for its citizens to refrain from traveling to or studying in Japan, while also restricting the export of dual-use goods that can be utilized for both civilian and military purposes.

On the same day as Foreign Minister Motegi's remarks, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry also stated, "To my knowledge, Minister Wang Yi has no plans to meet with the Japanese side during this visit to Manila," failing to confirm that any conversation took place between the two foreign ministers.

Kyodo News commented that the fact that state-run media followed the Chinese Foreign Ministry in denying reports of contact between the two diplomats suggests that China aims to emphasize to its domestic audience that "no dialogue took place."