At the APEC summit in Lima Xi Jinping and newly-appointed Shigeru Ishiba had their first face-to-face talk‚ where both leaders raised tough questions about their countries relations
The chinese leader pointed-out two main issues: Japan should handle Taiwan and historical matters properly; while also working on keeping global trade-chains stable. On the other side Ishiba who became PM just last month asked to lift the sea-food ban (related to Fukushima water release) and improve safety for Japanese people in China
Recent events have made relations more complex: two knife attacks in China happened this year - one taking place in june where a Chinese woman died protecting Japanese mother and child; another in september resulting in death of a 10-year old Japanese boy. These events plus detained Japanese nationals in China were key-points in Ishibas requests
Both countries officials have started talking again after years of silence which shows some positive movement in their relationship. However several issues remain unsolved:
- Maritime territory disputes
- Trade restrictions
- Fukushima water concerns
- Safety of Japanese nationals
The meeting took place while other important talks were happening - leaders of Japan S.Korea and US met to strengthen ties before next years political changes in America