Xi/Kishida Meeting Possible As Talks Begin To Diffuse Tensions

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi has told Nikkei Business Daily that the Japanese government will look into arranging a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

• According to Nikkei, the meeting would most likely be either a phone conversation or online conference to take place this autumn.
• The meeting would be an additional step towards normalising relations between Japan and China following a rupture earlier this month over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Congressional delegation to Taiwan.
• China cancelled an bilateral foreign ministers' meeting scheduled to take place on Aug 4 on the margins of the US-ASEAN Summit in Cambodia in response to Japan's condemnation, via a G7 joint statement, of Chinese military drills around Taiwan.
• Japanese national security adviser Takeo Akiba and China's chief diplomat Yang Jiechi held a seven-hour meeting on Wednesday in Tianjin, China, seen as a precursor to leader-level talks.
• According to AP, Yang told Takeo: “Japan should … shape up a right perception of China, pursue a positive, pragmatic and rational China policy, and uphold the right direction of peaceful development."
• A Japanese National Security Secretariat official said: "Akiba conveyed Japan's position on Taiwan to Yang, and stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait."
• Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said yesterday that Tokyo must demonstrate a commitment to ties with Beijing and, “make constructive efforts to improve and develop bilateral relations.”