China's Wang tells ex-Japan minister bilateral ties need to be normalized

BEIJING - China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Monday told former Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Beijing that bilateral ties currently face a severe situation and need to be "normalized," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Iwaya is visiting China as the head of a delegation from a Japanese trade promotion body in a bid to help break the deadlock in the two countries' relationship amid a monthslong diplomatic row over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on a Taiwan emergency.