New Japan Envoy to China Aims to Realize Summit Talks

Beijing, May 16 (Jiji Press)--New Japanese Ambassador to China Yutaka Yokoi vowed Monday to make every effort to realize a summit between the leaders of the two countries on the sidelines of upcoming international meetings. "Summit-level exchanges play an important role in promoting bilateral relations," Yokoi said at a press conference at the Japanese embassy in Beijing. He suggested that he will aim to realize bilateral talks between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the fringes of the Group of 20 summit meeting to be held in China in September and a planned Japan-China-South Korea trilateral summit in Japan this year. Yokoi is the first member of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's "China School" expert group to become ambassador to China since Yuji Miyamoto, who left the post in 2010. At the press conference, Yokoi said he will put priority on efforts to improve bilateral relations, while history issues cannot be ignored. Differences between Tokyo and Beijing over the situation in the South China Sea, where China is expanding its military buildup, should not negatively affect development of the bilateral relationship, he added. END