Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi will visit the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania after he attends the Group of 20 foreign ministers' gathering in Italy next week, Foreign Ministry sources said Monday.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry is also coordinating his planned visits to the Central American and Caribbean countries of Guatemala, Cuba, Panama and Jamaica in mid-July, according to diplomatic sources.
Motegi wants to visit regions where China has been trying to increase its presence and economic influence, aiming to advance Japan's open and free Indo-Pacific strategy to counter China's clout, the sources said.
In Europe, there is a sense of caution against China's growing influence, with Lithuania pulling out of the framework of economic cooperation between China and 17 Central and Eastern European countries.
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