Xi Jinping, Abe meet briefly on Apec sidelines ... but China and Japan give differing accounts of it
Japanese prime minister hopes two forthcoming diplomatic anniversaries will help strengthen ties between two nations
President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have met briefly on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru.
Yasuhisa Kawamura, a spokesman for Abe, said the two leaders “stepped a couple of paces towards each other” after a group meeting of 21 leaders on Sunday morning, and that the meeting “was a natural movement”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a brief statement that Xi had a short conversation with Abe in Lima “at the invitation of the Japanese side”.
Abe told Xi Tokyo was looking forward to two important anniversaries to improve ties between Japan and China, Kawamura said.
These were the 45th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic relations between the two nations next year, and the 40th anniversary of the Japan-China peace and friendship treaty, which fell in 2018, he said.