Kono, Wang Agree to Promote Mutual Visits of Leaders

Tokyo, April 15 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Sunday agreed that their countries will aim to fully improve their relations through mutual visits of their leaders. In their meeting in Tokyo, Kono and Wang agreed that the first visit to Japan next month by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang for a trilateral summit of leaders from the two countries plus South Korea will be the first in the mutual visits that will be followed by trips to each other's country by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Noting that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-China peace and friendship treaty, Kono told Wang at the outset of their meeting that Tokyo wants to rebuild ties with Beijing based on the common recognition that the two countries are partners for cooperation, not threats to each other. Wang, also Chinese state councillor, said momentum for improved ties has emerged but that there are some complicated and sensitive elements. China wants to work together with Japan to bring bilateral relations back to a normal path for development at an early date, Wang said. Kono and Wang agreed that Japan and China will continue to work closely in dealing with North Korea ahead of a summit of leaders from the two Koreas on April 27 and a U.S.-North Korean summit in May or early June. The two ministers also confirmed that Japan and China will cooperate closely to achieve the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear and missile programs while fully implementing U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions on Pyongyang. Kono asked for South Korea's understanding and cooperation to resolve the issue of North Korea's abductions of Japanese citizens. The ministers also agreed to accelerate work for an early launch of a proposed naval and air liaison mechanism aimed at preventing unintended clashes between their countries in and over the East China Sea, including the Senkaku Islands controlled by Japan but claimed by China. Kono told Wang that there will be no real improvement in bilateral relations without stability in the East China Sea. In an apparent warning against protectionist moves by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the ministers agreed on the importance of maintaining the open, free and rules-based multilateral trading system. On Beijing's One Belt, One Road regional development initiative, Wang said China welcomes a move by Japan to consider its participation to make it a new growth area for bilateral cooperation, according to a Chinese account of the meeting. END