Official urges talks with Japan
(01-17 15:48)
A senior Chinese official has called for talks with Japan over the disputed Diaoyu Islands, in an apparent attempt to cool tensions.
Jia Qinglin, who heads the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the gesture at a meeting in Beijing with a former Japanese Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, who has long been an advocate of closer ties with China, RTHK reports.
Jia is thought to be the highest-ranking Chinese official to publicly issue such a call.
"The two sides should appropriately handle questions surrounding the Diaoyu islands and other and other issues on which their stances' differ,'' Jia said.
However, Japan's current government has refused to negotiate, arguing that it holds sovereignty over the islands and there is nothing to talk about.
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