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Chinese, Japanese diplomats meet ahead of possible Xi-Kishida meeting at Apec summit
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets Takeo Akiba, Japan’s top national security adviser, in Beijing
- Talks between Xi Jinping and Fumio Kishida during the summit in San Francisco are being arranged, according to reports
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Jane Caiin Beijing
China’s top diplomat met Japan’s top security adviser in Beijing on Thursday, amid reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida might meet in San Francisco during the Apec summit next week.
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Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Takeo Akiba, special adviser to the Japanese cabinet and secretary general of Japan’s National Security Secretariat, discussed planning for high-level dialogue between their countries, according to China’s foreign ministry.
The Japanese government said the two diplomats discussed “issues of concern” between their countries as well as regional and international situations, and agreed to maintain close communication.
Talks between Xi and Kishida were being arranged around next Thursday in San Francisco on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, an unnamed source was quoted by Kyodo as saying.
Akiba and Wang talked for 3½ hours on Thursday, with preparations for the summit, set for November 15-17, believed to be on the agenda. After the talks, Akiba told reporters that “nothing has been decided” about the leaders’ meeting, Kyodo reported.
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If it happens, the talks would be the first one-on-one meeting between Xi and Kishida since November last year in Bangkok when they affirmed stable bilateral ties on the sidelines of the Apec forum. It was the first time leaders from the two nations had met face to face in three years.
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