China and Japan to resume dialogue
China says it and Japan have agreed to ramp up high-level contacts following a virtual freeze of more than two years due to tensions over a territorial dispute.
The announcement is the strongest indication yet of a possible meeting between Chinese president Xi Jinping and Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at next week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit.
China’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides agreed to “gradually resume political, diplomatic and security dialogues”.
No meeting has been announced, although Mr Xi and Mr Abe are widely expected to at least hold some kind of meeting during the summit next Monday and Tuesday. It is unclear whether anything substantial will be discussed.
High-level ties have been frozen since September 2012 amid tensions over East China Sea islands claimed by both sides.
