Japan, China to Spur Talks to Establish Defense Hotline

Hiroshima, Sept. 15 (Jiji Press)--Japan and China agreed to spur their talks to establish an emergency communication system to avoid any unintended military clash between the two countries, at a two-day meeting of senior working-level officials in Hiroshima through Thursday. The envisioned maritime and aerial communication mechanism includes a hotline between the two countries' defense authorities and the unification of radio frequencies for emergency communications. Japan hopes that the mechanism will help ease bilateral tensions heightened due to Chinese ships' repeated intrusions into Japanese waters near the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are also claimed by China. The meeting in the western Japan city also covered Chinese gas field development near the so-called Japan-China intermediate line in the East China Sea. The Japanese side is believed to have called for resuming talks on joint gas development based on a bilateral agreement in 2008. Meanwhile, the two sides agreed to conduct a joint survey on marine debris in 2017, as part of the two countries' cooperation in the environmental field. Japanese participants included Noriyuki Shikata, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, as well as defense and coast guard officials. The next bilateral gathering on maritime issues is set to be held in China by the end of the year. END