Xi Jinping to consider summit with Japan over Diaoyu Islands
Party chief is handed letter from Japan premier Shinzo Abe and tells envoy that top-level talks could be held if 'right conditions' are created
Party leader Xi Jinping called yesterday for dialogue to resolve a territorial dispute with Japan and said he would consider the possibility of a summit meeting between leaders of the two nations if there was a "proper environment".
Xi made the remarks at a meeting in Beijing with Natsuo Yamaguchi, an envoy of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Yamaguchi, the head of New Komeito, a member of Japan's coalition government, handed Xi a letter written by Abe calling for more communication between Tokyo and Beijing.
It was the highest-level meeting between the two countries since the row over the Diaoyus, known as the Senkakus in Japan, intensified in September, when Japan announced it was buying three of the uninhabited islands.
"Your visit to China comes when Sino-Japanese relations face an unusual situation," Xi told Yamaguchi.
Yamaguchi told a press briefing that Xi said he would "seriously consider" a proposal for a high-level summit, but conditions should be created to make it possible. However, the official account of the talks by Xinhua made no mention of the summit.