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China and Japan have resumed high-level talks on maritime issues, a sign that they want to improve relations strained in recent years by territorial disputes and wartime historical issues.
Yi Xianliang , deputy director general of the foreign ministry's Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, met his Japanese counterpart, Makita Shimokawa, in the eastern port city of Qingdao on Tuesday and yesterday, Xinhua reported.
Both sides "agreed, on principle, to resume maritime liaisons between the defence agencies of the two countries", it quoted a foreign ministry statement as saying.
Japan's foreign ministry said the two sides had agreed to hold talks on setting up a maritime hotline between their defence ministries.

The news came as Vice-Premier Wang Yang unexpectedly told a visiting Japanese business mission in Beijing yesterday that he wanted to seek an early resumption of a high-level economic dialogue with Japan, involving numerous ministers of the two countries.
Economic dialogue has been suspended since August 2010. The dialogue, co-hosted by a Chinese vice-premier and Japanese foreign minister, had started in 2007.
Fujio Cho, honorary chairman of Toyota and head of the business mission, said after the meeting that he believed the icy situation had "started thawing".
Relations have plummeted to their lowest point in years, amid a series of rows over historical and territorial issues. Some observers warn that the Asian giants might come to blows over East China Sea islands - called the Senkakus by Japan and the Diaoyus by China - where ships from both sides have been sent to press claims to their ownership.
Beijing has laid the blame for the tensions on Japan, which in September 2012 nationalised the islands. Japan contends that China's claim has no historical basis and that it is trying to challenge Tokyo's rule through military intimidation.
The first maritime affairs talks were held in China in May 2012.
Jia Qingguo , a professor of international relations at Peking University, said: "The resumption of Sino-Japanese talks on oceanic affairs was just a matter of time. There have been many disputes over maritime rights between the two countries, but neither of the two wants to let such disputes lead to military confrontation or regression of their relationship. So the talks are necessary."
Da Zhigang, an expert in Japanese affairs at the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, said: "I would see the resumption as a signal of good intentions by the two countries.
"Though there are some issues of principle between the two nations, neither of them would like to let political tension spread to economic areas, especially in the context of a fragile recovery of the global economy and slower growth in China."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly said he wants to hold a first official meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a regional summit in Beijing in November.
During the meeting with Wang, which lasted about 90 minutes, the Japanese group also told him there should be formal talks between Abe and Xi, according to the members.
In this regard, Wang did not make any specific comment, but he did not blame the political situation on Japan this time, unlike when the previous mission of the association met him last November, the members said.
"Whether Xi Jinping will meet Abe depends on whether the two countries can make some progress in pursuing consensus on issues like maritime disputes and history," Jia said.
Kyodo, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press
 


High-level Sino-Japanese maritime talks a sign of improving ties

Chinese and Japanese ships have been trying to lay claim to ownership of a chain of islands in the East China Sea. Photo: Reuters

Wang Yang (right) in talks with the Japanese business delegation. Photo: Kyodo

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China

Resumption of high-level dialogue shows both sides are keen to focus on economy, analysts say


China and Japan have resumed high-level talks on maritime issues, a sign that they want to improve relations strained in recent years by territorial disputes and wartime historical issues.


High-level Sino-Japanese maritime talks a sign of improving ties

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Resumption of high-level dialogue shows both sides are keen to focus on economy, analysts say

Resumption of high-level dialogue shows both sides are keen to focus on economy, analysts say