TOKYO: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday that Japan remains open to dialogue with China as keeping communications intact is all the more important when ties are strained.

Hayashi’s comment to reporters came after China on Thursday canceled a meeting between Hayashi and his Chinese counterpart, set to take place on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Cambodia, due to its displeasure with a G7 statement urging Beijing to resolve the tension over Taiwan peacefully.