Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week, a report said yesterday, as Tokyo tries to set up premier-level talks amid tensions with its giant neighbor.
The reported meeting set for Wednesday is to happen during Fukuda’s three-day visit to Beijing as a board member of a China-based international forum, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.
The meeting — which could not be immediately confirmed — is likely to focus on clearing the way for the first bilateral talks between Xi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the APEC summit next month in China, it said.
Abe and Xi, both strong nationalists, have not held direct talks and their nations remain deeply at odds over a disputed island chain — that is also claimed by Taiwan — as well as bitter memories of Japan’s aggression in China and elsewhere in Asia leading up to and during World War II.
However, the two sides have made visible steps in recent weeks toward a possible top-level meeting.
The NHK report comes days after Japan’s deputy prime minister urged China to agree to a summit during his meeting with a top Chinese official.
Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and China’s Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (張高麗) briefly chatted on the sidelines of the APEC finance ministers’ gathering in Beijing.
Aso, who is also Japan’s finance minister, told Japanese reporters in Beijing that he had used the meeting to call for a meeting between Abe and Xi, stressing the importance of the nations’ trade and business ties.
Abe made brief contact with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang (李克強) last week at an international gathering in Italy, followed by other meetings between senior officials of both nations and a visit to China by a major Japanese business delegation.
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