TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Senior diplomats from Japan and China expressed hope to improve bilateral ties as they met for talks on Tuesday, with an eye to arranging July talks between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping.
Kong Xuanyou, China's assistant foreign minister who is considered one of the main candidates to be the next ambassador to Japan, and Takeo Akiba, Japan's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, are also expected to discuss responses to North Korea's nuclear and missile development in their talks in Tokyo.
Tokyo hopes to defuse tensions with Beijing over the Japanese-controlled, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and arrange a possible meeting between Abe and Xi on the margins of a summit of Group of 20 major economies in Hamburg, Germany on July 7-8.
"To improve bilateral ties, I hope to expand the positive aspect of the relationship and manage outstanding (issues) appropriately," Akiba said at the outset of the meeting with Kong, which was open to the media.
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