Yasuo Fukuda, former Japan prime minister, meets Xi Jinping in Boao
Tensions between the two nations were not discussed, but analysts say renewed dialogue and diplomacy are crucial to improving ties
Former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda briefly met President Xi Jinping yesterday in his capacity as chairman of an international conference, but said there was no discussion of bilateral tensions.
Fukuda is serving as chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, touted as an Asian version of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The annual Boao meeting is held on Hainan Island .
Fukuda said he and other forum executives attended a meeting with Xi that lasted about 20 minutes during which discussions were focused largely on conference issues.
"It's not the kind of place to talk just about Japan and Japan-China relations," Fukuda said.
No Chinese state media reported the encounter. Still, it marked a rare chance for a high-level meeting as Sino-Japanese ties remain strained since a long-simmering territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, called the Senkakus in Japan, intensified last year.
Liang Yunxiang, a professor of Japanese studies at Peking University, said the meeting between Xi and Fukuda was not very significant.