Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament Japan would seek a stable relationship with China while asserting Tokyo's positions.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called China an important neighbor and said Japan would work toward a constructive and stable relationship, in a policy speech to the lower house on 5 October, AFP reported.
She also said Tokyo would firmly assert its positions and call for responsible behavior. Relations have been strained since her November comment that Japan might intervene if China attacked Taiwan.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory. After Takaichi's earlier remarks, China warned citizens against travel to Japan and imposed trade limits that Japanese firms said cut rare-earth supplies. China's top diplomat said last week that ties were waiting to be normalized, while meeting a former Japanese foreign minister in Beijing.
Takaichi also said the government would draft a plan on population decline, which she called a quietly advancing national crisis.
No bilateral summit was announced with the speech. The address sets the government's public line; any easing of travel or mineral restrictions would be a separate step.