Xi Jinping has a political battle plan for Taiwan that became clearer in July when Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, right, met with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing. (Nikkei montage/Reuters/Yusuke Hinata)

Analysis: Why China rolled out the red carpet for Okinawa governor

Xi Jinping puts Japanese islands in play to maneuver for Taiwan

KATSUJI NAKAZAWA, Nikkei senior staff writer

July 13, 2023 04:00 JST

Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.

It was July 5 in Beijing and Chinese Premier Li Qiang was meeting with a delegation from Japan led by a former speaker of Japan's House of Representatives who has also served as minister of foreign affairs.