The leaders of China and Japan held their first face-to-face talks in three
years on Thursday, after
North Korea fired the latest in a record missile blitz
that has sent nuclear fears soaring.
اضافة اعلان
Chinese President Xi Jinping flew in to the talks in Bangkok from a G20
meeting in Bali where US President Joe Biden pressed him to use his influence
to rein in Pyongyang's activities.
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile as Xi and Japanese Prime
Minister Fumio Kishida prepared to meet, and warned Washington and its allies
to expect a "fiercer" military response.
The pair met on the sidelines of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum focused on pandemic recovery and the global economic
turmoil unleashed by the war in Ukraine.
"It is important that we accelerate the building of a Japan-China
relationship that is constructive and stable, through the efforts of both
sides," Kishida said at the start of the meeting.
His office had earlier condemned the latest launch by North Korea, which
adds to a flurry that began this month and has included an intercontinental
ballistic missile.
Seoul and Washington have warned the North could be preparing to carry out a
nuclear test, which would be its seventh.
Biden held a three-way summit in Phnom Penh last week with allies Kishida
and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol to discuss the latest drama with the
North.
The trio issued a joint statement warning that any new nuclear test would be
met with a "strong and resolute" response, without giving further
details.
Biden said after his talks with Xi on Monday he was confident China --
Pyongyang's main diplomatic and economic ally -- did not want Kim Jong Un's
regime to escalate tensions any further.
- 'No new Cold War'
-
China and Japan -- the world's second- and third-largest economies -- are
key trading partners, but relations have soured as Beijing bolsters its
military, projects power regionally, and takes a harder line on territorial
rivalries.
Chinese missiles fired during massive military drills around Taiwan in
August are believed to have fallen within Japan's exclusive economic zone,
and Tokyo has protested at what it calls growing aerial and maritime violations
in recent months.
Xi last held face-to-face talks with a Japanese prime minister in December
2019, when he met Shinzo Abe in Beijing, although he has spoken to Kishida by
phone.
The APEC gathering, which French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi
Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will also attend, caps a diplomatic
blitz in Asia, following the G20 and the ASEAN summit in Cambodia.
In written remarks to an APEC business summit on Thursday, Xi laid out a
vision of economic cooperation for the Pacific rim, urging more open trade,
closer cooperation and smooth supply chains.
"The Asia Pacific is no-one's backyard and should not become an arena
for big power contest," he said in the remarks in English.
"No attempt to wage a new Cold War will ever be allowed by the people
or by our times."
Biden and Xi's landmark summit talks on Monday sought to cool their rivalry,
which has intensified sharply in recent years as Beijing has become more
powerful and more assertive about replacing the US-led order that has prevailed
since World War II.
The easing of tensions will be welcome news for APEC members who have grown
increasingly alarmed at the prospect of having to take sides.
While the pair still clashed on the question of self-governing Taiwan's
future -- a major regional flashpoint -- they found common ground on Ukraine.
They underlined that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons was
unacceptable -- a clear rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats
over his failing war in Ukraine.
Macron landed in Bangkok late Wednesday aiming to relaunch France's
strategic ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region after the humiliating blow of
Australia cancelling a major submarine contract in 2021.
"In this highly contested region, which is the theatre of a
confrontation between the two major world powers, our strategy is to defend
freedom and sovereignty," Macron said on Thursday.
Read More Region & World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
