A senior Chinese diplomat expressed "difficulty" Tuesday over the possibility of arranging bilateral talks between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of next week's Group of 20 summit in Russia.
"I wonder how we can set them, given that there is no foundation for dialogue," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong told a press conference organized ahead of the two-day summit of major economies starting from Sept. 5 in St. Petersburg.
Li blamed Japan for the difficulty, saying Tokyo has not made enough effort to narrow differences with Beijing over the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.