Photo/Illutration Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi holds his first news conference in his new post on Nov. 11. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

New Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi announced Nov. 11 he was stepping down as head of a multipartisan group of Diet members seeking improved ties with China to avoid “needless misunderstanding” about his approach to foreign policy issues.

Hayashi is the only new member of the Cabinet that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida formally established on Nov. 10.

Hayashi had served as chairman of the Diet members’ group since December 2017 and he visited China the following May to meet with high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials.

At his first news conference in his new post on Nov. 11, Hayashi said, “I made the decision to step down (as chairman of the Diet members’ group) to avoid any needless misunderstanding as I carried out my duties as foreign minister.”

When a reporter asked Hayashi what sort of misunderstanding he had in mind and to elaborate on his reasons for stepping down, Hayashi said somewhat obliquely, “I am aware of the various views that have been raised indirectly through media reports.”

He did not specify who he was referring to.

Concerns had been raised among some of the more conservative elements within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that Hayashi was too pro-China to take a strong stance against Beijing on various issues.

Hayashi conceded he is pro-China but said that would not prevent him from asking Beijing to act in a responsible manner.

“In pursuing cooperation on issues of common concern through further dialogue, I believe it is better to know the other nation very well rather than not know anything at all,” he added.

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