The leaders of China and Japan agreed overnight to resume high-level talks after ties took a beating over an incident involving disputed islands north-east of Taiwan, diplomats said Tuesday.
According to Japanese diplomats, Prime Minister Nato Kan and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiaobo for about 25 minutes discussed the tensions following the September 7 maritime incident near the disputed Senkaku islands and agreed to future high-level talks should they become necessary, DPA reported.
Japanese authorities on September 7 arrested a Chinese fishing boat captain after his boat allegedly collided with Coast Guard vessels in the disputed waters near the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.
Kan and Wen attended a dinner on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit in Brussels, which is set to conclude Tuesday. Both leaders agreed that current relations were "not favourable," the Japanese side said, adding that frozen business ties are to be revived.
But Trade Minister Akihiro Ohata told reporters in Tokyo that it was too early to judge whether China resumed rare earths exports to Japan. News reports from Japan said last week China lifted a de-facto ban on exports of rare minerals that had been blocked in an apparent protest of Tokyo's arrest of the Chinese captain.
China officially denied blocking the exports of the minerals used in the production of hybrid cars, mobile phones and other high-tech products in Japan.
Kan, who faced a public drubbing over this handling of the crisis, said Tokyo maintained its claim of sovereignty over the islands. Wen stressed China's position equally.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku told a news conference that he hoped the premier would be able to hold talks with Chinese leaders on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Hanoi late October and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit in Yokohama, Japan, in November.