Japan PM Shinzo Abe says he hopes to meet Xi Jinping
Abe says he wants talks with Beijing and Seoul over territorial rows, while ruling party pledges push for changes to pacifist constitution
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he hoped to meet the Chinese and South Korean leaders soon to improve relations strained by separate territorial rows.
But his ruling party also pledged the same day to push for changes to Japan's pacifist constitution - a move likely to stir unease in both neighbouring countries, which were among victims of Tokyo's 20th century militarism.
"I am in the same generation as the two new leaders," Abe told an annual convention of his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) yesterday, referring to President Xi Jinping, 59, and South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, 61.
The 58-year-old Abe became prime minister in December for a second time when his conservative party secured a landslide election victory while Tokyo was locked in disputes with Beijing and Seoul over island chains. "For prosperity and stability in the region, it is necessary for the three of us to build mutual understanding," Abe told the convention.
"I want to say that Japan's door is always open toward China," said Abe, who was previously premier from 2006 to 2007.
But earlier in the day, the premier urged graduates of the National Defence Academy to guard the country against "provocations", an apparent reference to the row with Beijing over sovereignty of a Tokyo-controlled island chain.