Xi, Abe meet on ties, reaffirm readiness to strengthen partnership

ABE: JAPAN READY TO DISPLAY FORESIGHT IN BILATERAL RELATIONS

For his part, Abe said his country is ready to display foresight and add momentum to its ties with China, since the two countries, the world's second and third economies, respectively, are influential players on global and regional issues.

The Japanese leader eyed more high-level exchanges with China, adding that he is willing to enhance bilateral cooperation with China in such areas as economy and trade, finance, tourism, as well as the Belt and Road collaboration.

He also promised that regarding China's Taiwan, there is no change of Japan's stance inscribed in its joint statement with China in 1972.

Bilateral trust has been marred from time to time over Tokyo's reluctance on admitting its past war crimes, the attempt to annex China's Diaoyu Islands and adjacent islets in the East China Sea, and the initiative to abolish its post-war pacifist constitution that forbids the deployment of troops overseas for fight.

Tokyo was also a vigorous advocate of the so-called "China threat," frequently participating in military drills in Asia-Pacific with the United States, and selling weapons to the former Philippine administration when the Manila-manipulated South China Sea farce peaked to a failed arbitration last year.

SOURING RELATIONS BEHIND, SERIOUS ENGAGEMENT AHEAD

To patch up the bumpy relations and souring trust, China and Japan inked a four-point agreement in 2014, in which the two sides vowed to develop mutually beneficial relations, to face history squarely to overcome political obstacles in bilateral ties, to deter any escalation of confrontation via dialogue, consultation and crisis-management mechanism, and to resume political, diplomatic and security dialogues through bilateral and multilateral channels to enhance mutual trust.

These key principles came in the run-up to the high-profile Xi-Abe meeting in 2014 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing. Since then, the once frozen exchanges between the two neighbors have showed some signs of thawing.

The Chinese president, while meeting in May with Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, who arrived in Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on behalf of the Japanese government, urged joint efforts of both sides to ensure that bilateral ties run in the right direction.

He noted that Tokyo shall reflect on the reasons behind the souring ties, and take effective measures to improve mutual trust.

China welcomes Japan to join in the Belt and Road construction, Xi added.

Later in May, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi visited Japan and met with Abe, calling on Tokyo to accumulate "positive energy" and wipe out negative factors in bilateral relationship.

Yang also urged Japan to honor its words to take China as a partner rather than a rival, and properly handle issues related to Taiwan and history that bear vital impact on the foundation of mutual rapprochement.

Abe, for his part, said that regarding the Taiwan issue, Japan will abide by the principles established in the 1972 Japan-China joint communique that normalized bilateral relations.

Earlier in April, Japan released its diplomatic bluebook for 2017, describing its ties with China "one of the most important bilateral relationships," adding that Tokyo stands ready to cement cooperative partnership with Beijing.