Xi, Kishida show willingness to improve China-Japan ties

MADRID, 18 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of China, Xi Jinping, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, have shown this Thursday their willingness to improve bilateral relations between the two countries, agreeing to reopen the lines of communication, in what was the first meeting between the two countries. leaders of these countries in three years.

"We agreed to communicate closely at various levels, including at the leadership level," Kishida acknowledged after a 45-minute meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bangkok.

"Today's meeting has been a good start for a dialogue towards a constructive and stable relationship between Japan and China," said the Japanese prime minister, as reported by the Kiodo agency.

Xi has pointed out that Beijing and Tokyo share many common interests, as well as a space for cooperation. He, too, has expressed his hope that countries can build relationships that "meet the requirements of the new era."

"China and Japan are close neighbors of each other, and both are important countries in Asia and the world, sharing many common interests and space for cooperation. (...) China is willing to work with Japan to grasp the general direction of bilateral relations from a strategic perspective and build a China-Japan relationship that meets the requirements of the new era," reports the Xinhua news agency.

Along these lines, the Chinese president has emphasized that both parties must treat each other "with sincerity and mutual trust" in order to "be cooperative partners with each other and not pose threats to each other."

Japan's prime minister has announced that he has agreed to boost security communications, resume defense contacts between the countries and coordinate a visit to China by the foreign minister.

Both leaders will promote cooperation in environmental protection, energy saving, health and resume bilateral economic dialogue, as well as cultural exchange.

Kishida also conveyed to Xi Japan's "serious concern" about the tensions in the Senkaku Islands and the launch of ballistic missiles near Taiwan, which fell in the Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in August.

Both leaders have held telephone conversations in the past after Kishida was elected prime minister of Japan, according to information from the newspaper 'The Japan Times'. Xi had previously met the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in December 2019.

Last September, China and Japan marked 50 years of diplomatic relations, although relations have generally been overshadowed by tensions over territorial disputes between the two.