Abe to prepare for resumption of top-level China dialogue
Tokyo responds to Beijing raising possibility of a summit to defuse tensions amid island dispute, but analysts doubt it will happen soon
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday that his administration would prepare for the resumption of top-level dialogue with China, Japanese media reported.
It came after Beijing said it would consider the possibility of holding a leaders' summit.
Analysts said Beijing and Tokyo appeared to be seeking a diplomatic breakthrough to ease strains caused by a territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, which Japan calls the Senkakus. But these analysts cautioned that a meeting between Abe and Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping would not be held any time soon, if it happened at all.
Natsuo Yamaguchi, the Japanese envoy who met Xi on Friday, briefed Abe yesterday on his four-day visit. He said Abe was pleased to hear that Xi was considering holding a summit on Sino-Japanese relations, Kyodo News Agency reported
"I think our prime minister wishes to visit China. [But for now] the priority is to resume dialogue [with China], which will ultimately push a summit for leaders of the two countries," Yamaguchi, head of New Komeito, Abe's junior coalition partner, was quoted by Kyodo as saying.
Abe was quoted as saying that it was important that Xi and Yamaguchi agreed on promoting the relationship between the two countries. Abe expressed his willingness to make efforts to improve ties with China, Japanese broadcaster NHK said.