Japan lawmakers meet Chinese envoy amid spat, reports say
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The unofficial lunch meeting on Dec 1 reportedly included a discussion of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks on Taiwan.
PHOTO: EPA
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TOKYO – A coalition of Japanese lawmakers promoting friendship with China met Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao in Tokyo, according to local media, signalling efforts to ease tensions while the two nations also sparred over disputed islands
The unofficial lunch meeting on Dec 1 included a discussion of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s recent remarks on Taiwan, the Sankei newspaper said on Dec 2, citing people familiar with the matter.
The cross-party group said it aims to visit China by the end of the year, and stressed the importance of continued exchanges among lawmakers to reduce tensions, according to the report.
Kyodo News also reported similar developments.
Ms Yuko Obuchi, a heavyweight in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, attended the meeting, while the head of the coalition, former LDP secretary-general Hiroshi Moriyama, did not.
The reports followed Mr Wu’s Nov 25 talks with Japan’s Vice-Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi in Tokyo, which Japan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed.
The undisclosed gatherings suggest efforts to keep communications open beyond official channels, as a bilateral spat triggered by Ms Takaichi’s comments linking Taiwan’s security to Japan’s continues to sour ties between Asia’s two largest economies.
In a sign of ongoing tensions, the two countries were also issuing warnings to each other over disputed territory on Dec 2.
The Chinese Coast Guard said it had taken “necessary control measures” and issued warnings to drive away a Japanese fishing vessel it said had illegally entered China’s territorial waters around the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands.
Both nations claim sovereignty over the small cluster of islets.
At the same time, the Japanese coast guard issued a statement on Dec 2 saying it had expelled two Chinese coast guard vessels from Japan’s territorial waters around the islands. BLOOMBERG
