Diplomats from China and Japan meet, pave way for summit talks in July

中日, 도쿄서 차관보급 협의…7월 정상회담 추진•대북공조 모색 Senior diplomats of China and Japan met in Tokyo on Tuesday laying the groundwork for a possible summit between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Also high on the agenda were measures to counter North Korea’s nuclear provocations. The meeting between China's Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and his Japanese counterpart Takeo Akiba came as the two countries mark 45 years of the normalization of diplomatic relations this year. The talks were seen as a prelude to possible meeting between their leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg, which takes place on July 7th and 8th. The tone of the diplomats' talks was cordial as ties between the two have been strained, mainly due to territorial disputes. As the meeting opened, Akiba said he hopes to keep in close touch with China and make bilateral relations more stable. Kong responded by saying both sides needed to have a greater sense of crisis, in what appeared to be a reference to threats posed by North Korea. The two envoys also discussed the political uncertainty in South Korea, which has led to a trilateral summit between the three nations to be delayed Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages Facebook(NEWS):   / newsarirang   Homepage: http://www.arirang.com Facebook:   / arirangtv   Twitter:   / arirangworld   Instagram:   / arirangworld