Japan urges high-level talks with China

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for a leaders’ summit and a foreign ministers’ meeting between Tokyo and Beijing as soon as possible.

“I think there should be a summit meeting and also a foreign ministers meeting as soon as possible … I think such meetings should be held without pre-conditions,” Abe said on Friday.

Abe’s comments drew a cool reaction from China which accused Japan of lacking sincerity.

“The crux of the matter at present is Japan’s unwillingness to face up to the serious problems which exist in Sino-Japan relations and it is avoiding having earnest talks and consultations with China,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement added that Tokyo should “stop using empty slogans about so-called dialogue to gloss over disagreements.”

The relations between Japan and China have been seriously strained after a territorial row flared over tiny islands in the East China Sea.

The two countries have long been in a dispute over the sovereignty of the uninhabited islands, which are located near a crucial shipping lane and would give the owner exclusive oil, mineral and fishing rights in the surrounding waters.

On September 11, 2012, Tokyo signed a deal to buy three of the islands from their private Japanese owner in line with plans to nationalize the archipelago.

Meanwhile, Abe said that ties between Japan and Chine as the two biggest economies in Asia are very important, adding both nations benefit from strong economic relations.

“I am looking forward to the day when I can have amicable discussions with the leaders of China, an important neighboring country for Japan in … (a) spirit of being at ease with each other,” the Japanese premier said.