CHINA-JAPAN: TERRITORIAL DISPUTE
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida held an official meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Japan for the first time in 13 months on Jan. 9, when the discussed efforts to repair strained bilateral ties. Fumio Kishida was quoted by Asahi Shimbun as telling Chinese Ambassador Cheng Yonghua that "We want to build up mutual cooperation and bolster momentum for improved relations." The Ambassador replied: "We share the same view."
Also at the meeting, Kishida protested the intrusion of three Chinese government ships into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea the same day.
In response, Cheng reiterated Beijing's stance that the sovereignty issue has yet to be resolved between the two neighbors, despite Tokyo's claim that there is no territorial dispute.
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