Thursday, 19 March 2015

China and Japan hold first security talks in four years


China's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Jianchao (2nd R), Japan's Foreign Deputy Minister Shinsuke Sugiyama (2nd L), and other government officials from both sides shake hands prior to the 13th round of Japan-China Security Dialogue at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on March 19, 2015.Chinese and Japanese officials shook hands at the start of the meeting in Tokyo
The meeting in Tokyo among officials comes ahead of trilateral talks with South Korea on Saturday.
The last round of talks was in 2011, before ties worsened over a row over islands in the East China Sea.

China also claims Japan has failed to adequately atone for aggression in World War Two.
But the BBC's Celia Hatton in Beijing says relations are slowly improving and at the top of the meeting's agenda is the establishment of a maritime communication hotline.
There have been fears that a clash - accidental or otherwise - between Chinese and Japanese paramilitary vessels patrolling waters around the disputed islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, could trigger a conflict.
Japan's deputy foreign minister told reporters that both sides hoped to "especially discuss intentions and thoughts behind each other's defence policy."
His counterpart, China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao, said that China hoped that the two countries "would develop a mind to face history squarely and look into the future".

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