“I told Xi that the stability of Japan-China relations is crucial, only for both countries but also for the region and for foreign society,” Suga told reporters after their phone conversation.
His conversations with Xi on Friday night were the first since he took office just over a week ago, replacing Shinzo Abe, who resigned due to fitness problems.
Xi’s plan for Japan last April was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic and sparked protests even within Japan’s ruling party over the tightening of China’s controls on Hong Kong and its assertive movements in the regional seas.
“We don’t talk about the imaginable scale of (Xi) in Japan,” Suga said.
However, leaders agreed to hold high-level summits and meetings to cooperate on bilateral, regional and foreign issues, he said.
Relations between the two Asian rivals have advanced as China faces greater tensions with the United States.
But Japan sees the progression of China’s military and its increasingly firm position in the east and south china seas as a major security threat. Chinese coast guard ships violate territorial waters around the islands of southern Senkaku, under Japanese control, which China calls Diaoyu and also claims.
Earlier on Friday, Suga also spoke by phone with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed his goal of painting in combination with a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” to determine China’s maritime claim.
On Thursday, Suga met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and suggested that he take steps to address bilateral problems of serious bilateral conflict resolution.
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