TOKYO: A Beijing delegation of Komeito, the junior coalition partner of Japan’s ruling party, handed a letter from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting with China’s top leadership team on Wednesday, NHK reported.

The leader of the party, Natsuo Yamaguchi, delivered the letter when he met with Cai Qi, head of the powerful Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee that oversees day-to-day affairs of the CPC, according to the Japanese public broadcaster.

The broadcaster did not say what was in the letter. Komeito representatives and Kishida’s office were not available to comment on Thursday, a public holiday in Japan.

Yamaguchi and Cai also agreed to work toward a resumption of dialogue between the CPC and the coalition of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komeito, NHK reported. Such talks had been broken off in 2018.

The meeting took place as Asia’s two largest economies seek to improve ties which have been strained after the neighbours clashed over issues ranging from Japan’s release of treated radioactive water into the ocean to maritime territorial claims, China’s detention of Japanese citizens, Taiwan and export curbs.

Reuters