http://www.theage.com.au/world/china-politics/conciliatory-tone-offers-hopes-of-thaw-in-east-china-sea-dispute-20130126-2ddip.html
Conciliatory tone offers hopes of thaw in East China Sea dispute Date January 27, 2013 Jane Perlez a.. China ties … Natsuo Yamaguchi delivers a letter to Xi Jinping. Photo: AFP CHINA'S new leader, Xi Jinping, offered Japan a conciliatory tone during a meeting with a senior Japanese politician in an apparent effort to reduce the escalating tensions between the two countries over islands in the East China Sea. In some of his first remarks on China's foreign policy since becoming the secretary general of the Communist Party, Mr Xi told the Japanese politician Natsuo Yamaguchi ''the Chinese government remains committed to China-Japan relations'', according to an account provided by China's Foreign Ministry. Mr Xi urged both sides to ''look at the larger picture'' and ''push relations forward,'' the Foreign Ministry said, language markedly more restrained than the exhortations from military officials and media since the dispute over the islands erupted four months ago. The encounter between Mr Xi and Mr Yamaguchi, in the Great Hall of the People, came after China and Japan have sent surveillance ships to the East China Sea almost daily in the past several months. Recently, both sides scrambled fighter jets in what the United States considers a dangerous escalation of the dispute over the islands, known as the Diaoyu in China and the Senkaku in Japan. In their meeting on Friday, Mr Yamaguchi, the head of the junior party in Japan's new coalition government, delivered a letter to Mr Xi from Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, that urged high-level talks between Tokyo and Beijing, Japanese media reported. After meeting Mr Xi, Mr Yamaguchi also expressed moderation. ''We would like to improve our future relations,'' he said. ''We believe Mr Xi's intent to seriously consider high-level talks reflects his desire for improved relations.'' The New Komeito Party, led by Mr Yamaguchi, has had long-standing ties with China. In the Japanese political context, the party is considered pro-China. Mounting nationalism in both countries has fanned the tensions. Washington has made it clear that the mutual defence treaty between Japan and the United States covers an attack on the islands, which could lead to US military involvement. The conciliatory tone between China and Japan did not necessarily presage an immediate thaw in the dispute. Instead, the new tone appeared to comport with recent remarks by Chinese diplomats that the islands dispute needed to be managed, a stance that contrasts with the barrage of belligerent statements against Japan by Chinese military experts and the state-run media. The New York Times Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/world/china-politics/conciliatory-tone-offers-hopes-of-thaw-in-east-china-sea-dispute-20130126-2ddip.html#ixzz2J8I9SdFm [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
