Yamaguchi said the two had agreed it was important to maintain a dialogue. Xi urged Japan to “work hard with China” to resolve the issue, a Chinese foreign ministry statement said. As head of the New Komeito party, Natsuo Yamaguchi is the most senior politician to visit China since ties worsened last year.
Both countries claim sovereignty over a chain of islands in the East China Sea, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. The islands, which are controlled by Japan, lie south of Okinawa and north of Taiwan.
After his meeting, Yamaguchi told reporters that Japan “wishes to pursue ties with China while looking at the big picture”. “It is important that both sides make efforts through political dialogue so that a summit meeting between Japanese and Chinese leaders can take place - this is the suggestion that I made,” he said.
“In response, Xi Jinping said there was a need for high-level dialogue and that he would consider it seriously.” Xi, meanwhile, speaking before the talks, said the visit came “at a period in which Sino-Japanese relations face a special situation” and that China attached “great importance” to it.
“The Japanese side ought to face up to history and facts, take practical steps and work hard with China to find an effective way to appropriately resolve and manage the issue via dialogue and consultations,” a foreign ministry statement later quoted him as saying.
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Park Sae-jin
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