Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to manage differences over delicate issues including those related to Taiwan in an appropriate manner.
Tokyo [Japan] October 8 : The remarks came when new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first telephonic conversation since the former took office, Kyodo News reported. During their talk Xi told Kishida that Beijing is willing to boost “dialogue and cooperation” with Tokyo. On Monday, Xi had also sent a congratulatory message to the Japanese PM expressing that the two countries should “strengthen dialogue and communication and enhance mutual trust and cooperation in an effort to build a bilateral relationship that meets the requirements of the new era,” Kyodo News reported citing Chinese media. Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades. Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that “Taiwan’s independence” means war. On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island. For a long time, Beijing is being criticised by democratic countries including Japan over human rights abuses in regions including Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang.
