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Kawala Xie

Beijing has declined to say whether the leaders of China and Japan will meet in Thailand later this week despite confirmation from Tokyo that the meeting will go ahead.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would meet at the Apec summit in Bangkok on Thursday for the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of the two countries in around three years.
“Although there are many issues, and pending issues, between Japan and China, we would like to hold talks to build a constructive and stable relationship between Japan and China,” Matsuno said in Tokyo.
But when asked about the meeting, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she has “no information to provide”.
Instead, she called on countries to abide by the “one-China” policy and not “form blocs” in the Asia-Pacific.
“The Asia-Pacific is a hotspot for cooperation and development, not a chessboard for major powers to play on,” Mao said.
Biden pledges more support on Myanmar, sea row in ‘new era’ of US-Asean ties
That call came after Japan, South Korea, and the United States reaffirmed their Indo-Pacific partnership on the sidelines of the Asean summit in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on the weekend.
At the meeting, the three countries underlined the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait and their opposition to any unilateral change to the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific.


The meeting between Xi and Kishida is expected to take place after the two leaders wrap up their trip to Bali, Indonesia, for the Group of 20 summit, where Xi will also hold talks with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
While Kishida’s name was not on a list of the leaders that China said on Friday would meet Xi in Bali and Bangkok, the Japanese prime minister said on Saturday that the talks were still being arranged.
The two leaders have only spoken on the phone since Kishida took office last year but they did agree to continue building bilateral ties as they exchanged messages to mark a half-century of diplomatic relations.
If the meeting with Xi does go ahead, Kishida is expected to raise concerns over Taiwan and the disputed Senkakus, known as the Diaoyus in China, according to Japanese media reports.
Power charged by recent home wins, Xi and Biden finally meet in Bali
Ties between the two countries have long been strained by their wartime past and territorial disputes, a distrust that has deepened as the US and its allies have become embroiled in a geopolitical rivalry in the region with China, raising the risk of conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
The tensions were heightened in August after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, prompting the People’s Liberation Army to hold unprecedented war games around the island.
During the exercises, Tokyo said Chinese missiles landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, an area that Beijing does not recognise.
Japan condemned China’s action, and now plans to state in a revamped national security strategy by the end of the year that it will not tolerate any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
Beijing urged Tokyo to be cautious on Taiwan, saying there was no “grey area” in the one-China principle.
China has also become more vigilant as Japan has stepped up security partnerships with the West, moves seen to counter China in the Asia-Pacific.
Japan has joined Nato’s cybersecurity defence centre and signed a security pact with Australia last month to strengthen intelligence sharing and military cooperation, with another similar agreement expected to be signed with Britain next month.


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China-Japan relations

Still no word from China on prospect of Xi-Kishida talks at Apec summit

Japan says the Fumio Kishida and Xi Jinping will meet during the Apec summit in Bangkok this week. Photo: Sam Tsang

Xi-Biden talks: Blinken to visit China in push for open lines of communication

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden shake hands before their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit meeting in Bali, Indonesia on Monday. Photo: AP

Biden during a press conference after his meeting with Xi in Bali, Indonesia, on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE 

The venue for the Xi-Biden meeting, the Mulia hotel in Bali, is screened with temporary boards to prevent prying eyes. Photo: Kinling Lo

US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping meeting ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Nusa Dua on the Indonesian resort island of Bali on Monday. Photo: AFP

Boost for Japan-South Korea ties as Kishida, Yoon vow to resolve historical disputes, security issues

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pose for a photo during their bilateral meeting during the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh in Cambodia on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Cambodia on Sunday. Photo: YNA/dpa

China-Australia relations: Canberra confirms PM Anthony Albanese to hold talks with China’s President Xi Jinping

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese; China’s President Xi Jinping. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Beijing in no rush to send PLA across Taiwan Strait, say Chinese analysts

 Illustration: Brian Wang

Soldiers lower the Republic of China flag at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei in August. Photo: Bloomberg

News

China

Diplomacy

Tokyo has confirmed that the meeting will go ahead in Bangkok but Beijing says it has no information to offer
China again warns countries against forming blocs in the Asia-Pacific


Tokyo has confirmed that the meeting will go ahead in Bangkok but Beijing says it has no information to offer.


Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Still no word from China on prospect of Xi-Kishida talks at Apec summit

Tokyo has confirmed that the meeting will go ahead in Bangkok but Beijing says it has no information to offer China again warns countries against forming blocs in the Asia-Pacific

Tokyo has confirmed that the meeting will go ahead in Bangkok but Beijing says it has no information to offer

China again warns countries against forming blocs in the Asia-Pacific