TOKYO—Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Thursday emphasised to his Chinese counterpart that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are important, while also expressing “deep concern” about the situations in Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Ties between the two Asian neighbors have been occasionally fraught over a territorial row and memories of World War Two, but Hayashi—who took office this month—said at the time that building stable, constructive ties with China was important. Hayashi, speaking with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi for the first time, expressed his intention to make efforts towards such ties, Japan’s foreign ministry said in a statement. But he also said he felt “deep concern” about the situation in the former British colony of Hong Kong, where authorities have been clamping down on pro-democracy politicians, and in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, where rights groups say members of a Muslim minority are facing persecution. The …