Li Positive about Visiting Japan for 3-Way Summit

January 29, 2018

Beijing- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang responded positively on Sunday to an invitation from Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono to visit Japan to take part in a three-way summit also involving South Korea.

At a meeting in Beijing, Kono proposed that Japan host a trilateral Asian summit this spring and invited Li to visit Japan for the leaders' meeting. Li said he will give positive consideration to the offer.

Li expressed China's hope of strengthening the momentum for improvement in relations with Japan, with the two countries marking the 40th anniversary this year of the signing of the Japan-China peace and friendship treaty.

Kono said Japan will make efforts so that Japan and China can develop a deeper relationship this year.

Earlier on Sunday, Kono held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, and they agreed that the two countries should steadily promote reciprocal visits by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping in order to improve the bilateral ties.

In their talks, held for three and a half hours at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing, Kono and Wang reaffirmed that Japan and China are cooperative partners and either will not become a threat to each other.

On Kono's invitation for Li to visit Japan, Wang said China aims for an early summit among the three Asian neighbors. Japan and China will make specific preparations, according to a Japanese official with access to the Kono-Wang meeting.

Kono protested the recent entry of a submerged Chinese submarine into the contiguous zone surrounding Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan. He urged China to prevent a recurrence of such entry.

A situation that could impede the improvement of Japan-China ties should not be caused, Kono said.

But the Chinese side tried to justify the submarine activity by stressing its claim to the Japanese-administered East China Sea islands, according to the Japanese official. China calls the islands Diaoyu.

Kono rejected the Chinese position as unacceptable.

Kono and Wang agreed to make efforts for the early launch of a bilateral maritime and air liaison mechanism aimed at forestalling an accidental clash in the East China Sea.

They reaffirmed bilateral cooperation in dealing with North Korean issues.

Kono underscored the need to ramp up the pressure on North Korea over its nuclear and missile development. The two ministers agreed that their countries will fully implement related UN Security Council resolutions.

Along with the foreign ministers' meeting, the Japanese and Chinese governments reached a broad agreement to conclude a bilateral social security treaty intended to prevent double pension premium payments by company workers stationed away from their home countries.

Later on Sunday, Kono also held talks with State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who oversees China's diplomatic affairs, and they agreed to promote mutual visits by the two countries' leaders.

Kono was visiting China for the first time since he assumed the ministerial post in August last year. He was the first Japanese foreign minister to pay a visit to China in about 21 months. Jiji Press