Japan, China Resume Talks on Maritime Liaison Mechanism

Tokyo, Jan. 12 (Jiji Press)--Japanese and Chinese defense officials resumed talks Monday on the launch of a bilateral communication mechanism to avoid unintended maritime clashes, after a suspension of about two and a half years. Neither of the two sides revealed what was discussed at the Tokyo meeting. But they are believed to have exchanged views on the establishment of a hotline between them and other items agreed at the previous talks in June 2012. The meeting brought together division-chief-level officials from Japan's Defense Ministry and China's Ministry of National Defense, and representatives from the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Chinese navy, according to Japanese government officials. The bilateral talks had been suspended following Japan's nationalization of some of the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, which are also claimed by China, in September 2012. In the previous session, the two nations broadly agreed to launch regular talks between their defense officials, set up a hotline between them and begin direct communications between ships and aircraft of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and those of the Chinese military. The Japanese side is aiming to launch the operations of the communication mechanism during the first half of this year after reconfirming the agreed measures through division-chief-level talks and then holding higher-level talks. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to resume the talks on the mechanism when they held the first bilateral meeting in Beijing last November on the fringe of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit. Late last year, the Chinese side informed Japan of its readiness to reopen the talks around the middle of this month. But Chinese government ships have repeatedly entered Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku islands while two Chinese warships came close to the Senkaku chain in mid-December. Following these incidents, a senior Japanese Defense Ministry official cast doubt over China's seriousness about launching the communication mechanism. END