Beijing says no plans for Xi to meet Japan’s Abe at Sochi Winter Olympics

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may attend the opening ceremony for the Sochi Winter Olympics, but China has ruled out any formal meeting with President Xi Jinping whose attendance at the Games has already been confirmed.

Japan’s ties with China have recently deteriorated due to a series of disputes, including Abe’s visit to a shrine seen as a symbol of Japanese militarism - a visit that also infuriated South Korea, which like China also suffered from Japan’s wartime aggression.

Xi will visit Russia from February 6 to 8 to attend the opening ceremony, China said on Monday in an apparent show of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has staked his political future on the success of the Games.

Chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said last week that plans were being made for an Abe trip to Sochi to attend the opening ceremony, but that nothing had been finalised. The Olympics run from February 7 to 23.

Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping, speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, said that Xi had no plans to meet any Japanese leader in Sochi.

Ties have been strained over a dispute involving a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea and Abe’s visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honoured along with war dead. The visit prompted concern from key Tokyo ally the United States