Japan, China Agree to Cooperate for Imposing U.N. Sanctions on N. Korea

Tokyo, March 14 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, agreed Monday to closely cooperate to have the latest U.N. Security Council resolution with sanctions against North Korea fully implemented. During their 45-minute telephone talks, proposed by Tokyo, Kishida also informed Wang of his intention to visit China this spring. Details of the visit will be fixed by the Japanese and Chinese governments later, according to Japanese government officials. During the talks, Kishida stressed that both Tokyo and Beijing should make constructive efforts to improve bilateral relations, the officials noted. Speaking to reporters later, Kishida said, "We agreed to cooperate in arranging diplomatic schedules on the understanding that this year will be important for the Japan-China relationship." Wang had rejected the Japanese foreign minister's repeated request for telephone talks after North Korea's nuclear test in January. He was reluctant to have conversations with Kishida probably due to his dissatisfaction at Tokyo's concerted move with Washington to mount pressure on Beijing over China's militarization of the South China Sea, people familiar with the situation said. At a press conference last week, Wang said that Japanese leaders are "making trouble for China at every turn." Kishida declined to comment on whether he discussed the South China Sea issue with Wang during the finally realized tete-a-tete talks. END