By Ankit Panda
Xi Jinping and Shinzo Abe held a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Africa Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asian African Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia. The meeting is the first between the two leaders since they met on of the sidelines of last year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leader’s summit in Beijing, and the fourth meeting overall, including brief encounters in September and October 2013.
Notably, the visit comes a day after Abe stirred controversy and drew Chinese criticism after sending a gift to the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, where Japan’s war dead, including several Class-A war criminals, are enshrined. The meeting was reported by Bloomberg to have lasted for 29 minutes, a time that was seen as “longer-than-expected.”
In its report, Bloomberg noted a shift in the body language between the two leaders from their overly awkward and rigid handshake in November 2014. As the report notes: “The two men seemed more at ease than at their first meeting in November, when Xi seemed to scowl and avoid eye contact with Abe as they greeted each other for the cameras. This time they smiled and engaged in a vigorous handshake.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat