Current:Home > InvestJapan, China agree on a constructive relationship, but reach only vague promises in seafood dispute-LoTradeCoin
Japan, China agree on a constructive relationship, but reach only vague promises in seafood dispute
View Date:2024-12-24 00:31:51
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Friday to build a stable and constructive relationship but achieved only a vague agreement on easing a dispute over a Chinese ban on Japanese seafood, officials said.
Kishida told reporters after a 65-minute meeting with Xi on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco that they agreed to “find ways to resolve the dispute through meetings and dialogue in a constructive manner” and would convene a meeting of scientific experts. He gave no details.
Kishida had demanded that China immediately lift its ban on Japanese seafood, in place since the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant began discharging treated radioactive wastewater into the sea on Aug. 24. The ban has badly hurt Japanese exporters of scallops and other seafood.
Japan says the wastewater is much safer than international standards and that the International Atomic Energy Agency has concluded the environmental and health impact of its release is negligible. China calls the discharge “nuclear-contaminated water.”
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said China and Japan agreed to find a way to resolve the Fukushima water issue through consultations and negotiations in a constructive manner. Xi, calling the discharge a global health and marine environment issue, told Kishida that Japan should take domestic and international concerns seriously and handle them in a responsible and constructive manner, CCTV said in an online report.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, speaking Friday in Beijing, said all countries have the right to ensure food safety and protect public health.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno praised the talks as “extremely meaningful” because Kishida and Xi “confirmed their mutual goal of building constructive and stable Japan-China relations from a wide perspective.”
But a series of disputes dominated the talks. Kishida asked Xi to remove all marking buoys that Beijing has placed inside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the East China Sea, and to quickly release a Japanese businessman who was formally arrested in October on spying allegations.
Kishida said he raised “grave concern” about China’s increased military activity around Japan, including joint exercises with Russia. He stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, where China regularly dispatches military ships and planes to threaten Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own territory.
Kishida also held talks on the sidelines of APEC with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and briefly met with Biden and discussed the Middle East, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, China and North Korea, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said. The three leaders also held a separate meeting together.
Yoon’s office said the three leaders talked for about 10 minutes about security and economic cooperation. Biden expressed gratitude to Yoon and Kishida for “easing his burden as he performs his duties as the president of the United States,” Yoon’s deputy national security director, Kim Tae-hyo, told South Korean reporters.
Japan and South Korea, which share security concerns in the Indo-Pacific, have rapidly repaired and strengthened their ties that had long been strained over historical issues involving Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, thereby bolstering three-way security ties with the United States.
In their meeting, Kishida and Yoon expressed satisfaction over the “positive trends in bilateral relations” and the expansion of government consultations on diplomacy, security and economy, Yoon’s office said.
___
Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
veryGood! (687)
Related
- What are the best financial advising companies? Help USA TODAY rank the top U.S. firms
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade lineup will include Minnie Mouse — finally
- White powdery substance found outside Colorado family's home 'exploded'; FBI responds
- Prosecutors ask Massachusetts’ highest court to allow murder retrial for Karen Read
- Jenn Tran's Ex Devin Strader Throws Shade At Her DWTS Partner Sasha Farber Amid Romance Rumors
- Judge orders Afghan man accused of planning Election Day attack in US to remain in custody
- Parkland shooting judge criticizes shooter’s attorneys during talk to law students
- 2 men charged with 7 Baltimore area homicides in gang case
- Mike Tyson concedes the role of villain to young foe in 58-year-old’s fight with Jake Paul
- Travis Barker's son Landon denies Diddy-themed birthday party: 'A bad situation'
Ranking
- Man killed by police in Minnesota was being sought in death of his pregnant wife
- DeSantis approves changes to election procedures for hurricane affected counties
- NFL Week 7 picks straight up and against spread: Will Chiefs or 49ers win Super Bowl rematch?
- Poland’s president criticizes the planned suspension of the right to asylum as a ‘fatal mistake’
- Halle Berry Rocks Sheer Dress She Wore to 2002 Oscars 22 Years Later
- Nordstrom Rack's Top 100 Fall Deals: Your Guide to Can't-Miss Discounts, Including $11.98 Sweaters
- Former elections official in Virginia sues the state attorney general
- Liam Payne’s Ex Aliana Mawla Shares Emotional Tribute to Singer After His Death
Recommendation
-
Jax Taylor Breaks Silence on Brittany Cartwright Dating His Friend Amid Their Divorce
-
Universal will open fourth Orlando theme park next May
-
Devastated Harry Styles Speaks Out on Liam Payne’s Death
-
Takeaways from The Associated Press’ reporting on extremism in the military
-
Dave Coulier Says He's OK If This Is the End Amid Stage 3 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Battle
-
Disney x Kate Spade’s Snow White Collection Is the Fairest of Them All -- And It's on Sale
-
Wanda and Jamal, joined by mistaken Thanksgiving text, share her cancer battle
-
Travis Kelce Debuts Shocking Mullet Transformation for Grotesquerie Role