China and Japan yesterday agreed to establish a crisis mechanism and to talks to prevent a dispute over a group of uninhabited islands from getting out of control, in an apparent breakthrough in ties that have long been soured by the disagreement.
The two countries will gradually resume political, diplomatic and security dialogue, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement following a meeting between China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪), and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s national security adviser, Shotaro Yachi.
China and Japan acknowledge that “different positions exist between them” regarding tensions over the East China Sea islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan.
However, Japan must face up to and properly handle sensitive issues such as history and the islands, Yang was quoted as saying in a statement.
The news comes ahead of a visit by Abe to Beijing for the APEC summit next week. A one-on-one meeting on its sidelines between Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) would signal a thaw in relations between the world’s second and third-biggest economies.
Ties have chilled in the past two years over a territorial row, regional rivalry and the bitter legacy of Japan’s wartime occupation of China.
Abe has not had a substantive exchange with Xi since the Japanese leader took office in December 2012.
Japan’s NHK public TV reported yesterday that Tokyo and Beijing had agreed to hold final concrete discussions on the meeting, which it said would be the first “formal” talks between the two countries’ leaders since May 2012, when Abe’s predecessor was in office.
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