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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will seek discussions with President Xi next week. Photo: AP

Shinzo Abe to seek contact with Xi Jinping at forthcoming Asian-African Summit in Jakarta

Despite a number of areas of ongoing conflict between Japan and China, Prime Minister Abe will try to establish lines of communication with his counterpart in Beijing at the meeting

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will seek contact with China’s President Xi Jinping next week when they join an international conference in Indonesia, a Japanese government source said Saturday.

The two countries have been increasing dialogue despite strained relations over territory and perceptions of wartime history.

Abe and Xi will attend the Asian-African Summit, starting Wednesday in Jakarta, along with other leaders from the regions. They could have a brief conversation during the summit, the source said, suggesting it might be possible for them to have bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit if China agrees.

The two leaders met for the first time last November in Beijing.

Despite the mutual approach, China's Coast Guard vessels have continued to intrude into Japanese territorial waters around the Japanese-controlled Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, in the East China Sea.

China voiced opposition to Japan’s purchase of a major part of the islands from a private Japanese owner in 2012.

The Diaoyu's, a group of uninhabited islets, are claimed by China, Japan and Taiwan. Taiwan refers to them as Tiaoyutai.

China has also maintained it is awaiting a planned statement by Abe this summer to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war for any clue on Tokyo’s reflection of its past militarism that hurt China and other parts of Asia.

Differences between the two countries have also been highlighted with Tokyo distancing itself from a planned Chinese-led development bank, which could end up rivaling existing similar institutions led by Japan and the United States.

While more than 50 countries, including major European and developing nations, have applied for membership in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Tokyo and Washington remain cautious about whether the new institution could ensure fair governance and debt sustainability.

 

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