China wants stronger ties with Japan, Premier Li Keqiang tells Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
- Meeting on Asean summit sidelines marks first exchange with a senior Chinese leader since Prime Minister Kishida took office in October last year
- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kishida will be at Bali G20 summit and Apec talks in Bangkok, but no meeting has been officially confirmed yet
Both Beijing and Tokyo were committed to strengthening political, trade and economic ties, as well as people-to-people exchanges, Li said, as the two leaders met in the Cambodian capital on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit that is also hosting leaders from the US, China, South Korea and Japan.
China accelerating ‘Version 3.0’ of Asean free-trade zone amid US tensions
Kishida, who was elected prime minister in October last year, said Japan and China should pursue “friendly coexistence”, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
The meeting had been long delayed over Covid-19 concerns that saw senior Chinese leaders suspend in-person diplomacy as well as deepening tensions in recent years as the US – a close Japanese ally – hardened its stance on China.
Most countries, including the US, do not consider Taiwan to be an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any change of the status quo by force.
But a meeting between the two has not been publicly confirmed.
Tokyo seeks ‘stable’ relations with China as it pushes for Kishida-Xi meeting
However, while Beijing announced last week that Xi would meet US President Joe Biden and French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Bali, it made no mention of a meeting with Kishida.
Additional reporting by Reuters