KYODO NEWS


 

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Friday he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to foster "mutually beneficial" and "stable" relations in their first in-person talks.

Following the meeting in Lima, held on the sidelines of this year's summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Ishiba also said he told Xi that Japan is "extremely concerned" about China's increasingly aggressive military maneuvers.

"There are many differences of opinion between Japan and China. But despite these differences, I agreed with President Xi to continue to have more meetings," Ishiba told reporters.

Xi's last face-to-face talks with a Japanese prime minister were a year ago. Both sides agreed to realize more talks at various levels, including reciprocal visits by foreign ministers and the two countries' high-level economic dialogue, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

China continues carrying out aggressive naval and air activities near a Japan-controlled island, as well as around Taiwan and in the South China Sea, to assert its territorial claims.

A Chinese military plane intruded into Japan's airspace for the first time in August, and Japanese public sentiment toward China worsened after a Japanese schoolboy was stabbed to death the following month in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Ishiba said he urged Xi to ensure the safety of Japanese citizens and the Chinese leader promised to do so for "all foreigners."

According to China's Foreign Ministry, Xi reiterated Japan should face its history and properly deal with sensitive issues such as the future of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

Despite long-running tensions over wartime history, territory and many other issues, however, the Japanese and Chinese governments have recognized that reducing tensions would serve their common strategic interests.

As he did with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Laos in October, Ishiba confirmed with Xi the policy direction that has served as the foundation of the bilateral relationship since it was agreed on by Tokyo and Beijing in 2008.

Xi said China is ready to cooperate with Japan to build a "constructive and stable relationship," while noting that the two countries' relationship bears "significance beyond bilateral dimension," according to China's state-run news agency Xinhua.

 

The sit-down between Ishiba and Xi took place as the incoming U.S. administration of President-elect Donald Trump is poised to take a much harder line against China, which has a track record of seeking closer ties with other countries including Japan under such circumstances.

Trump, who decisively won the Nov. 5 presidential election, is quickly filling senior positions in his second administration with those considered to be fervent loyalists and prominent hawks on China.

Meanwhile, Ishiba's grip on power is not solid despite earlier this week being reelected by parliament as Japan's prime minister following a general election setback that saw his ruling party and junior coalition partner lose their majority in the House of Representatives.

Ishiba called the snap election after he was narrowly chosen to lead the Liberal Democratic Party and took office as prime minister on Oct. 1.
During his meeting with Xi, which lasted about 35 minutes, Ishiba also asked China to remain committed to its promise to resume seafood imports from Japan.

In September, China said it would "gradually" restart Japanese seafood imports after imposing a blanket ban about a year earlier over the release of treated radioactive water into the ocean from the disabled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Prior to the ban, China was the biggest importer of Japanese seafood.
Ishiba said Xi himself referred to China's commitment to the gradual resumption and stressed that this fact "carries a lot of weight." But he said the timing of the restart is still undecided.

He also disclosed Xi touched on Japan's request for the quick resumption of Japanese beef and rice exports to China, without elaborating. According to a senior Japanese official, Xi said the issue should continue to be discussed between their respective authorities.