Japan and China promise to work to deepen trust amid territorial row
- Ministers on both sides pledge to continue work to deepen trust
- Dispute over Senkaku Islands, known as Diaoyu in China, continues to weigh down their relationship
Senior diplomats from Japan and China pledged on Friday to try to bolster mutual trust in security affairs, as the two countries remain at odds over islands both claim in the East China Sea despite the improvement in political relations.
At the outset of their “security dialogue” in Beijing, Japanese senior deputy foreign minister Takeo Mori said: “It is true that there are concerns over security policy between Japan and China, but it is important to deepen mutual trust and concretely promote exchanges.”
Chinese foreign vice-minister Kong Xuanyou told Mori that China “will make efforts to strengthen our relations of trust while interacting without reserve”.
The bilateral security dialogue was held for the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at a summit meeting in Beijing in October last year, asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to improve the situation surrounding the disputed islands.
Political ties between the two countries have been improving recently, with 2018 – the 40th anniversary of the signing and entering into force of the bilateral Treaty of Peace and Friendship – serving as an incentive to forge better ties.