Tokyo Proposes Reciprocal Abe-Xi Visits In 2018
Nations’ leaders haven’t visited each other in same year since 2008
AJapanese proposal to China revealed on Tuesday would see Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping pay each other visits next year. Tokyo suggested the reciprocal visits in late May, when Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi was in Japan, according to Japanese government sources. China, the sources said, has signaled a positive attitude toward mending the bilateral relationship.
The leaders of the two countries have not visited each other in the same year since 2008, when Yasuo Fukuda was Japan’s PM and Hu Jintao was China’s president. The hope is that resuming active top-level dialogue will warm the countries’ often-icy ties and deepen economic co-operation. This, in turn, might help the governments smooth things over on more contentious issues, such as security. Mr Yang visited Japan on May 29 and held individual meetings with Abe, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and National Security Council chief Shotaro Yachi. The government sources said Japan expressed its desire for mutual visits in 2018, and though specific dates were not discussed, Mr Yang and his interlocutors agreed “to make efforts to fully improve relations.”
Milestone years
China is taking a cautious approach to diplomacy ahead of the Communist Party’s National Congress this fall. The summit proposal, though, is part of a bigger charm offensive on Japan’s part. On Monday, Mr Abe spoke at Nikkei’s Future of Asia conference and expressed his conditional support for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Last year, Foreign Minister Kishida visited China and discussed plans to co-operate on various challenges - from macroeconomics to energy conservation and aging populations.
For the time being, Japan will concentrate on arranging a summit between Mr Abe and Mr Xi during the Group of 20 summit in Germany in July. Tokyo is also keen to revive Japan-China-South Korea summits.