Japan proposes resuming maritime hotline talks with China
Tokyo hopes to resume stalled negotiations on establishing communication channel to avoid flare-ups in East China Sea, report says
Tokyo has proposed restarting talks with Beijing next month on setting up a hotline to avert maritime incidents in the disputed East China Sea, Kyodo reported, citing Japanese government sources. But mainland experts say the two sides are unlikely to reach a major consensus soon.
Tokyo hoped the hotline between the two nations' defence authorities would launch next year, while Beijing said it would make arrangements for the proposal, the sources said.
The "maritime liaison mechanism" is aimed at easing tensions stemming from competing sovereignty claims to islands in the sea known as the Diaoyus in Chinese and the Senkakus in Japanese. Ministry officials from both sides would be involved in the talks, the report said.
Talks on setting up the hotline have been held three times previously but stalled after the Japanese government said in September, 2012 it would nationalise the islands, angering Beijing.
The risk of a confrontation intensified afterwards with both sides sending more ships and aircraft to the area. In January last year, Tokyo alleged a Chinese frigate locked radar on a Japanese destroyer.
But the idea for the hotline resurfaced following the first summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing in November. The leaders confirmed that senior officials would start working towards the early establishment of a crisis management mechanism.