G20 Summit: China, Japan Discuss Meeting Between Leaders To Address 'Strategic Distrust'

Chinese and Japanese authorities are discussing a potential talk between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Xi Jinping to address what many are calling "strategic distrust" between the two Asian nations.

Officials are eyeing Thailand as the venue for the possible meeting between Kishia and Xi, but Indonesia is also seen as an option. The Japanese prime minister on Saturday said that his nation was making arrangements with China for international gatherings in the days ahead. On that day, Kishia was scheduled to meet with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.

China and Japan

If the meeting continues, the meeting between the two Asian leaders would be the first summit talks in roughly three years between their two nations. In recent years, bilateral ties have been precarious between the two countries as Beijing and Tokyo are at an impasse over the Japan-controlled, China-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Furthermore, Chinese authorities raised regional tensions by threatening to attack Taiwan, a self-governing island nation, using its military forces. Kishida's remarks about the potential talk with Xi came before he departed for a tour of Southeast Asian countries, as per the Japan Times.

The prime minister is scheduled to go to Cambodia first, where he will attend a series of gatherings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He would then travel to Indonesia and Thailand for his following visits.

Kishia is also set to go to Indonesia on Sunday for an annual summit of the Group of 20 major economies on the resort island of Bali. On Thursday, he will be in Thailand for a summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

According to the South China Morning Post, United States President Joe Biden, on the other hand, assured Asian leaders that U.S. competition with China would not result in conflict. The Democrat's remarks came on Sunday following Japan's accusation that China's Xi was infringing on Japan's sovereignty.

The U.S. president is set to meet with leaders from across Asia this week at the G20 summit in Indonesia. On Wednesday, Biden and Xi are scheduled to meet personally, which is their first face-to-face meeting since the American Democrat's presidential win.

Rising Global Tensions

It comes as tensions between China and the U.S. have continued to rise in recent years, with the eastern superpower growing increasingly aggressive against Japan and Taiwan. Kishida's remarks on sovereignty come as Chinese fishing and naval vessels have frequented Japanese waters in the last few months.

Biden and Xi are expected to talk about efforts how they would deepen the lines of communication between Beijing and Washington. The two world leaders are also set to discuss how to address competition and if they could work together with each other where "interests align," Fox News reported.

The situation comes as, on Thursday, the Japanese Self-Defense Force and the U.S. military began a large-scale joint exercise. The exercises were conducted primarily in and around the Asian country's southwestern islands.

The military cooperation is part of an effort to boost their operation capability in those areas amid China's continued aggression and intensifying military activities in nearby territories.