Hopes rise for meeting between Xi Jinping and Shinzo Abe after ministers' talks
In first formal contact in two years, Wang Yi and Fumio Kishida vow to improve China-Japan ties
The foreign ministers of China and Japan broke a lengthy diplomatic silence yesterday, holding official talks for the first time in two years in an apparent effort to prepare for a meeting between the two countries' leaders in the next few days.
Wang Yi met Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the Apec ministerial meeting in Beijing. They agreed to work together to improve a relationship that has been bruised by maritime territorial disputes and differences over wartime history.
Both sides have been coy about publicly confirming whether President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold talks this week.
Wang told Kishida that healthy ties depended on whether Japan could "reflect on itself" and commit to resolving the basic underlying strains on ties, Xinhua reported.
Abe arrives in Beijing today and could meet Xi as early as this afternoon. It is unclear whether the two leaders will meet formally or informally or for how long.
