Groundwork laid for China-Japan summit
20 September 2006
Senior Chinese and Japanese diplomats are likely to meet in Tokyo at the weekend, Reuters reported. The news has fueled speculation that, should Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe secure victory in the country's forthcoming leadership election, Chinese President Hu Jintao would be willing to hold a summit with the new prime minister. Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi is to meet with Chinese counterpart Dai Bingguo for a sixth round of a strategic dialogue that has been continually interrupted by spats between the two nations. Abe hasn't said whether he would follow Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's example and visit the Yasukuni shrine, a habit that has infuriated China because the shrine honors several war criminals among Japan's war dead. However, Abe did say in a September 18 interview that, while he didn't see China as a threat, the country's escalating military spending was a "concern".