Japanese PM’S letter seen as cooling islands dispute with China
Crisis led both nations to scramble fighters
BEIJING • A senior envoy handed China’s leader a cordial letter from Japan’s prime minister Friday in the highest-level contact between the two sides since tensions spiked in September over an island dispute, though the meeting yielded little beyond commitments to hold further contact.
The letter from Shinzo Abe to Xi Jinping, as seen by The Associated Press, did not contain any substantial overtures, but it sent wishes of good health, spoke of the two countries’ “shared responsibility for peace and prosperity” in the region and said Friday’s meeting was a “valuable opportunity to share views.”
The meeting between Xi and the envoy, Natsuo Yamaguchi, appeared to dial back some of the intensity of the dispute, which has raised concerns over a possible armed conflict.
Xi told Yamaguchi that China attached “great importance” to his visit, following four months of rising friction that have included violent protests in China and the scrambling of fighter jets by both countries. “Mr. Yamaguchi visits China at a period in which China-Japan relations face a special situation,” Xi said.
Yamaguchi said both men emphasized the need for calm. He said they also discussed a future high-level meeting in preparation for a possible summit between Xi and Abe, but gave no indication when it might happen.
Tensions soared after Japan’s government bought the uninhabited islands, known in Chinese as Diaoyu and Japanese as Senkaku, from their private Japanese owners in September. Both sides have called for dialogue to avoid an armed confrontation, although Japan has rejected China’s demand it acknowledge a sovereignty dispute. Tokyo says it’s clear the islands belong to Japan. The islands are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and a potential wealth of gas, oil and other undersea resources.