Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday he wanted to hold a summit with China at the APEC leaders meeting in Beijing in November to improve relations strained by territorial and security issues, but drew a cool response from China.
Abe has been in office since late 2012 and has yet to meet Chinese leaders, despite worsening ties over disputed islands in the East China Sea, China’s declaration of an air defence identification zone in the area and Abe’s visits to a Tokyo shrine seen as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
“It is a great pity that we have not been able to have a leaders’ summit,” Abe told a parliamentary committee.
“We need to return to the basics of a strategic relationship of mutual respect. I would like to have a summit in Beijing this November at the time of the APEC meeting,” he said, referring to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum annual summit.
China’s Foreign Ministry said it had expressed its view on the issue many times already, though stopped short of outright rejecting the request.
“The Japanese side should take real steps and work hard to banish the political obstacles which affect the development of bilateral ties,” it said.
Japan has been locked in a territorial dispute with China over a group of East China Sea islets, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. Ships from both countries frequently shadow each other around the islands, raising fears of a clash.
