Vice-President Li Yuanchao says Tokyo should be sincere on ties

A senior Chinese leader met a delegation of Japanese regional governors yesterday and called on Tokyo to express sincerity about improving strained ties between the two nations.

Both nations have recently stepped up dialogue in what observers see as an attempt to create the right atmosphere for President Xi Jinping to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a regional summit. Today, former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda will visit China in his capacity as chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia.

In a brief report of the meeting between Vice-President Li Yuanchao and a delegation led by Kyoto Governor Keiji Yamada, Xinhua quoted Li as saying a stable Sino-Japanese relationship would be beneficial to the people of both nations.

China was willing to "push forward the development of the Sino-Japanese relationship based on the spirit of drawing lessons from history and looking forward to the future", he said.

The relationship has been strained since Tokyo announced it was nationalising disputed islands in the East China Sea, which China calls the Diaoyus and Japan calls the Senkakus. Beijing declared Abe was not welcome in China following his visit in December to the Yasukuni Shrine that honours Japan's war dead, including war criminals.

Expectations are high that Fukuda will meet Xi and that this could pave the way for the president and Abe to meet on the sidelines of next month's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing. Fukuda met Xi in July to convey Abe's call for dialogue, during which Xi showed a desire to improve Sino-Japanese ties, Japanese media reported.