Japan’s Akiba, China’s Yang Agree to Continue Dialogue

Tokyo(Jiji Press)—Takeo Akiba, secretary-general of Japan’s National Security Secretariat, and Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi, have agreed that their countries will continue dialogue to build a constructive and stable relationship, the Japanese government said Thursday.

Meeting in Tianjin, China, on Wednesday, Akiba and Yang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee, also affirmed the importance for Japan and China to communicate at multiple levels, according to the Japanese government.

Akiba visited China at the request of Beijing.

During his talks with Yang, which lasted some seven hours, Akiba touched on tension over Taiwan that grew following U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-ruled island. He conveyed Japan’s position to highlight the importance to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Also, Akiba is believed to have expressed concern about the landing within Japan’s exclusive economic zone of ballistic missiles launched by China during its military drills around Taiwan earlier this month. He is seen to have called on the Chinese side to exercise restraint.