China and Japan agree to restart top-level East China Sea talks
Meeting between Li Keqiang and Shinzo Abe yields a 'breakthrough' commitment on discussions on hold since 2012
Japan and China agreed late on Sunday to restart high-level talks that were put on hold amid strained ties, a senior Japanese official said after Premier Li Keqiang held his first meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The two nations agreed to aim to resume talks on exploration of natural resources in the East China Sea, which have been suspended since 2012, and to have a high-level bilateral economic dialogue early next year after a six-year hiatus.
Abe and Li also agreed that the two countries would work towards an "early" set-up of a maritime and air communications mechanism to prevent conflict, and to restart reciprocal visits by their foreign ministers, the Japanese official said.
Abe said he had "unwavering faith" in the principle of building strategic relations of mutual benefit with China. Li called on Tokyo to accommodate its Asian neighbours when handling military security and for concerted efforts from both sides to ensure mutual ties stayed on the right track.
The leaders' talks were held on the sidelines of a summit between China, Japan and South Korea in Seoul.
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Ties between Beijing and Tokyo have been battered by disputes over the East China Sea and second world war grievances, but relations have improved over the past year with summit meetings.
Liang Yunxiang, a Japanese affairs expert at Peking University, said the Li-Abe talks showed both sides were taking steps to improve ties, and the agreement to resume discussion on the East China Sea was significant.
"It's quite a breakthrough and a gesture of friendliness," Liang said. "It's more important than historical issues. Part of it will be about how Japan might join in the exploitation of gas fields that China is already tapping."
It's quite a breakthrough and a gesture of friendliness
But observers said there was still a long way to go before the nations could seal a deal on the communications mechanism as each wanted to avoid being seen as acknowledging the other's sovereignty over the waters.
"Beijing has been trying to persuade Japan to acknowledge that a sovereignty dispute exists and enter into discussions with Beijing, to which Tokyo has, of course, not acquiesced," said Victor Teo, assistant professor of Japanese studies at the University of Hong Kong. "It would be difficult for one side to give way as it would mean one side … modifying its claim with regard to what it has said over the sovereignty issue before."
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Yuki Tatsumi, a senior associate of the East Asia Programme at the Stimson Centre in the US, said only a meeting between Abe and President Xi Jinping would help reach concrete agreements. "This has to do with sovereignty, so neither side will make a compromise," she said.
In his opening remarks, Li said ties between the nations had been through tough times, and China and Japan should be on alert in handling sensitive issues.
The leaders had a frank and candid exchange on various issues, the Japanese official said, but declined to say if that included the South China Sea saga.
