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Xi meets Abe in Beijing, symbolic breakthrough in ties
November 10, 2014, 5:29 am

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hold a meeting at the request of the Japanese side ahead of the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Beijing, China, Nov. 10, 2014 [Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hold a meeting at the request of the Japanese side ahead of the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Beijing, China, Nov. 10, 2014 [Xinhua]

In what is a first in two and a half years, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday held a meeting at the request of the Japanese side. Xi and Abe met ahead of the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Beijing.

Chinese state media quoted Xi as saying, “China hopes that Japan continues to follow the path of peaceful development and adopt prudent military and security policies”.

Beijing and Tokyo have seen brief periods of deterioration in bilateral ties before and usually found a way to settle if not resolve differences.

Xi urged Japan to “do more things that help enhance the mutual trust between Japan and its neighboring countries, and play a constructive role in safeguarding the region’s peace and stability.”

A row over islands in the East China Sea, known in China as Diaoyu and in Japan as Senkaku has left ties between the two nation severely strained.

Noting that China and Japan are close neighbors, Xi on Monday said stability is of paramount importance in Sino-Japanese ties.

Relations need to move in the spirit of “taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future”, said Xi.

Trade ties have seen a downward spiral, affected by the strain in political relations.

Japan’s direct investment in China fell nearly a fifth in 2013, and dropped another 40 per cent to 300.8 billion yen (1.69 billion pounds) during the first half of 2014 from a year earlier, says a Reuters report.

 

TBP and Agencies