Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting in Osaka, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in June 2019. Xi's next trip to Japan will be his first official visit to the country as top leader.

Japan's once-a-decade mind games with China over top leader visit

Tokyo to treat Xi as state guest, but with conditions

OKI NAGAI, Nikkei staff writer

January 27, 2020 12:46 JST

TOKYO -- Every 10 years, Tokyo and Beijing engage in psychological warfare over the Chinese leader's official visit to Japan, no matter how well or badly the two Asian powers are getting along.

Ever since the two countries normalized relations in 1972, the top Chinese leader's trip to the nearby country has been a major bilateral diplomatic event.