Japan, China convene to strengthen ties amid wave of military drills

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Japan's national security adviser, Takeo Akiba traveled to the city of Tianjin following an invitation from China, to meet China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, for talks that lasted seven hours and entailed topics like that of Taiwan, Ukraine, and islets in the East China Sea.

A "serious provocation"

The talks came before the mark of the 50th anniversary of normalized ties between the two Asian countries on September 29, as relations between the region's two biggest economies have not always been cordial, with their ties previously severed due to issues ranging from war history to territorial disagreements.

In recent weeks, Japan has opposed Chinese missiles that it believes landed in its economic waters during its military drills around the island of Taiwan, with Akiba relaying Japan's stance on the matter to Yang and emphasizing the significance of "peace and stability" in the Strait. 

China, however, referred to the visits by Japanese ministers to a controversial war shrine, the Yasukuni Shrine, as a "serious provocation". The shrine represents a temple that Asian nations deeply associate with Japanese imperialism and military violence in the 20th century, especially that it commemorates Japanese soldiers that died colonizing neighboring countries, and it includes information about around 2.5 million people that died executing Japan's regional expansionist projects - among them are over 1,000 'war criminals.' 

North Korea was also a topic of discussion with Akiba expressing Japan's "grave concerns" over its development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced last week the commitment of the organization to denuclearize the DPRK, with Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son Gyong denouncing the UN chief in turn. 

Stabilizing bilateral ties 

The seven-hour meeting arose after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, which not only sparked a furious backlash from the Chinese government but instigated China to launch its largest-ever military drills around the autonomous island that China considers its own territory. 

Pelosi's visit was the first US visit ever in 25 years, causing a worldwide chain of reactions, from global fear of a world war to markets plunging overnight.  

As for territory, Akiba and Yang also discussed a recurrent controversy over the islets in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku by Tokyo and the Diaoyu by Beijing, but the officials agreed the countries will contribute to a mutual effort to fortify the constructive and stable nature of their bilateral ties.