BEIJING (Reuters) - China hopes to work with Japan to establish more cordial relations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Japanese counterpart on Sunday, aiming to move on from a series of disputes, some dating back to before World War Two.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, left, shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China Jan. 28, 2018. REUTERS/Andy Wong/Pool

China and Japan have sparred frequently about their painful history, with Beijing often accusing Tokyo of not properly atoning for Japan’s invasion of China before and during the war.

Ties between China and Japan, the world’s second and third-largest economies, have also been plagued by a long-running territorial dispute over a cluster of East China Sea islets and suspicion in China about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to amend Japan’s pacifist constitution.

The two nations have, however, sought to improve ties more recently, with Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping having met in November on the sidelines of a regional summit in Vietnam.

Wang told Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono that his trip to Beijing, coming so early in the year, showed Japan’s strong wish to improve relations and that China approves of this because better ties would be in both nations’ interests.

Though there has been positive progress, there are also many “disturbances and obstacles”, Wang said, but the minister also pointed to comments from Abe on wanting to improve relations.

“China-Japan ties always sail against the current, either forging ahead or drifting backward,” Wang said in front of reporters at the start of talks with his counterpart.

“We hope that the Japanese side will neither relax in its efforts nor fall back, and turn the spoken statements into concrete actions.”

Kono, who later met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, said that the two countries shared a major responsibility in safeguarding the stability and prosperity of Asia and the world at large.

“Not only do we need to manage our bilateral relations, but we also need to work together to deal with issues facing the entire globe, in particular the issue of North Korea,” Kono said. “We desire to extend mutual cooperation between our two countries in working towards resolving this issue.”

Japan has repeatedly pressed China to do more to help rein in North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes. China says it is committed to enforcing U.N. sanctions but that all parties need to do more to reduce tensions and restart talks.

Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Norio Maruyama told reporters that China and Japan are aiming to hold several high-level visits this year. These would include Abe visiting China and Xi going to Japan, he said, though no dates have been set.

“Let’s see. It’s all a question of the schedule,” he said. </s> Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi speaks during a press conference after talks with German Foreign Minister at the Borsig villa in Berlin. BERLIN: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged an end to US-South Korean military manoeuvres on Wednesday as well as a stop to North Korea's nuclear programme to calm tensions on the peninsula.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Channelnewsasia.com. </s> China has urged regional rival Japan to work with it to get strained relations between the two Asian giants back on to a normal track, as Japan’s foreign minister Taro Kono made his first official visit to Beijing.

China and Japan are the world’s second and third biggest economies, and relations have been tense for many years over numerous issues, in some cases dating back to Japan’s invasion and subsequent occupation of China in the 1930s.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi urged Mr Kono to make joint efforts to bring bilateral ties “back to the track of sound development”.

“Your visit to China at the beginning of the year shows the Japanese government’s strong willingness to improve bilateral ties,” Mr Wang told his Japanese counterpart, who is making his first China visit as Japanese foreign minister.

Issues between the two countries include what China sees as Tokyo’s failure to properly atone for second World War atrocities and a dispute over islands in the East China Sea.

Both China and Japan claim a group of islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan, to whom they officially belong, and the Diaoyu Islands in China.

Recent weeks have seen tensions revived after Chinese coast guard vessels passed through what Japan considers its territorial waters surrounding the disputed islands.

“At present Sino-Japanese relations are at a crucial stage. There is positive progress, but many disturbances and obstacles remain,” Mr Wang told reporters in Beijing.

Other issues stretch back further. Japanese president Shinzo Abe has visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including war criminals, and this has also complicated relations.

China and Japan are marking the 40th anniversary of the signing of a peace and friendship treaty between the two countries.

Mr Wang urged Japan “not to slack or fall back, and work together with China to meet each other halfway”.

“To improve and develop China-Japan relations meets the interests of both sides, and common aspirations of various circles of the two societies,” Mr Wang said.

He said Tokyo and Beijing needed to work together on broader issues too, such as the North Korea nuclear issue.

Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over the Japanese island of Hokkaido last year, and Tokyo has long sought more Chinese assistance in reining in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Last week Mr Abe said Japan was willing to promote the relationship in a policy speech.

Mr Abe and China’s president Xi Jinping have yet to exchange official visits, which is largely down to the row over the islands. In 2014 they exchanged a famously ill-tempered handshake.

Mr Kono said Japan and China shared a major responsibility in safeguarding the stability and prosperity of Asia and the world at large.

“Not only do we need to manage our bilateral relations, but we also need to work together to deal with issues facing the entire globe, in particular the issue of North Korea, which is the matter at hand for the international community as a whole,” Mr Kono said.

Later in his visit Mr Kono will meet senior foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi, and visit top leaders, possibly including Mr Xi. </s> Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addresses the media during a news conference following his meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (not pictured) at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, April 23, 2017. REUTERS/Michalis Karagiannis

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday urged all sides to ease tensions between North and South Korea and work towards a peaceful solution in the region.

“The most urgent task at the moment is the resumption of negotiations and all sides in the conflict must take part in this,” said Wang Yi, according to an interpreter, speaking after talks with his German counterpart in Berlin.

“Security and stability is quite fragile and there is a great danger that a new conflict, or incidents could happen at any time. Therefore we call all sides to be restrained and to avoid actions or words that could lead to new provocations,” he added. </s> BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s foreign minister Wang Yi called on the United States and North Korea on Thursday to have talks as soon as possible and said peace must prevail, amid signs of easing tension over North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.

Wang made the comments during a news briefing as part of the annual meeting of China’s parliament. </s> Beijing: China's top diplomat and foreign minister Wang Yi will pay a three-day official visit to Pakistan from Friday. This will be the first high-level visit by any Chinese official to Pakistan after the country elected a new government led by Imran Khan.

"At the invitation of Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, China's State Councillor and foreign minister Wang Yi will pay an official visit to Pakistan from 7 to 9 September," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said here.

Besides meeting his Pakistani counterpart, Wang is likely to meet Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and president-elect Arif Alvi and discuss the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and bilateral issues. "He will also meet the main leaders of Pakistani side and exchange views on bilateral relations, regional as well as international issues of mutual interest," Hua said.

"China and Pakistan are all-weather, strategic and cooperative partners. Our bilateral ties have been developing at sound momentum. "We have seen frequent high-level exchanges and political cooperation is also moving forward and there are rich outcomes from the CPEC," the spokesperson said.

Wang's visit came after US secretary Mike Pompeo's flying visit to Pakistan. Pompeo met Qureshi and Khan before heading to India for a maiden strategic and defence dialogue. Pompeo and Khan pledged to reset the bilateral ties that have sunk to a new a low, especially after Washington, scrapped $300 million of military aid to Islamabad, saying Pakistan did not use the fund to fight terrorism.

India will keenly watch Wang's visit. The CPEC is one of the pesky issues between Beijing and New Delhi as its planned route cuts through the disputed Kashmir held by Pakistan and claimed by India.

A commentary in Pakistani daily Dawn said "recent global and regional developments, including India's intensifying alliance with the US to contain China, has created a compulsion for Pakistan and China to further intensify their military and economic relationship". </s> BERLIN, April 26 (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday urged all sides to ease tensions between North and South Korea and work towards a peaceful solution in the region.

"The most urgent task at the moment is the resumption of negotiations and all sides in the conflict must take part in this," said Wang Yi, according to an interpreter, speaking after talks with his German counterpart in Berlin.

"Security and stability is quite fragile and there is a great danger that a new conflict, or incidents could happen at any time. Therefore we call all sides to be restrained and to avoid actions or words that could lead to new provocations," he added. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Michael Nienaber) </s> Beijing, Sep 6: China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Pakistan Friday to hold talks with the country's new leadership to consolidate cooperation and elevate the all-weather bilateral strategic partnership.

This is the first high-level visit by a Chinese official to Islamabad since the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office after the July 25 elections. The visit by Wang, who is also designated as the State Councillor which makes him the top diplomat of China, comes two days after that of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo met new Prime Minister Khan and pressed him to take "sustained and decisive measures" against terrorists threatening the regional peace and stability. Announcing Wang’s visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told the media that besides holding talks with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, he would also meet top leaders of the new Pakistan government and exchange views on bilateral ties, regional and international issues of mutual interest.

"This is the first high-level visit between the two sides after the establishment of the new government in Pakistan. We hope that through the visit the two sides could consolidate our traditional friendship, all-round cooperation and elevate China-Pakistan all-weather strategic and cooperative partnership," she said when asked about China’s expectations from the visit from September 7-9.

"China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic and cooperative partners. We are good neighbours, good friends and good brothers. Our bilateral ties have been developing with sound momentum. We have frequent high-level exchanges, practical cooperation moving forward and rich outcomes from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," she said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday congratulated Pakistan's newly-elected President Arif Alvi, saying the strategic significance of the bilateral ties is "more prominent under the current circumstances" and both sides should support each other "more staunchly".

Wang’s visit also comes amidst reports of unease in Beijing over how the new PTI government would approach over USD 50 billion Chinese investments in various projects under the CPEC connecting China’s Muslim-majority Xinjiang province with Gwadar port in Pakistan. Khan in the past criticised former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for the lack of transparency and corruption in the CPEC projects.

Newly-appointed Finance Minister Asad Umar has promised to bring about transparency to the CPEC projects whose details remained closely guarded secrets. India has protested to China over the CPEC, which is being built through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). </s> North Korea's state media said on Thursday that China's state councillor Wang Yi met with the North's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho in Pyongyang where they discussed bilateral ties and issues regarding the Korean Peninsula.

BEIJING: China is willing to continue playing a positive role to seek a political resolution for the Korean peninsula, the Chinese government's top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, told North Korea's foreign minister as diplomatic efforts gather pace.

China is North Korea's most important economic and diplomatic backer, despite Beijing's anger at Pyongyang's repeated nuclear and missile tests and support for strong United Nations sanctions against the North.

However, China has also welcomed moves by North Korea to improve ties with South Korea and the United States.

Wang is visiting Pyongyang following last week's historic meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the North's Kim Jong Un, where both pledged to improve ties.

The North surprised the world several days before that summit by declaring it would dismantle its nuclear test site to "transparently guarantee" its dramatic commitment to stop all nuclear and missile tests.

In a statement late on Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry cited Wang as offering North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho his congratulations for the successful meeting between the leaders of the North and South.

China fully supports North Korea's commitment to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula as well as its decision to concentrate its efforts on economic development, Wang said during his trip to Pyongyang.

"We hope the dialogue between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the United States will be conducted successfully and that substantial progress will be made," he said, referring to an upcoming meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.

China also fully supports a resolution of North Korea's "reasonable and legitimate security concerns" and gives its full support for the improvement of inter-Korean relations, Wang said.

"China is willing to strengthen communication with North Korea and continue to play a positive role in seeking a political solution to the Korean peninsula issue," he said.

China had largely sat on the sidelines while the two Koreas improved ties, until Kim made a secretive trip to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in late March.

Beijing has been keen to show that it has an indispensable role to play in seeking a lasting solution, concerned that its interests may be ignored, especially as Pyongyang and Washington edge closer together.

The widely read Chinese state-run tabloid the Global Times said in an editorial on Thursday the theory China was being marginalised "is a shallow attempt to manipulate public opinion".

China prefers quieter diplomacy, it said, pointing to the secrecy surrounding Kim's meeting with Xi.

"But Seoul, for its own political purposes, created much hype about the inter-Korean summit. U.S. President Donald Trump has started claiming credit for the Kim-Trump summit before it even starts," it said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Japanese Foreign Minister Tarō Kōno in Beijing and says they hope to work to improve relations.