Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida plans to visit Germany to speak at a security conference in Munich from late January, government sources said Wednesday, a move aimed at airing Japan's concern over China's establishment of an air defense zone over parts of the East China Sea that covers the disputed Senkaku Islands.
Kishida's envisioned participation in the Munich Security Conference comes as China has drawn sharp reaction from Japan and the United States over what Tokyo describes as Beijing's "profoundly dangerous acts that unilaterally change the status quo."
The conference is a well-known international forum on security and draws many government ministers and military officials from countries belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.