Senior diplomats from Japan and China will meet in Tokyo on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of a summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping in July, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Monday.
Kong Xuanyou, China's assistant foreign minister, will arrive in Tokyo on Monday for a meeting the next day with Takeo Akiba, deputy foreign minister for political affairs, the ministry said. Kong is considered a strong candidate for next ambassador to Japan.
Behind the move is Tokyo's desire to work hand-in-hand with Beijing to halt North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs, which it now believes are "a new level of threat," sources said Sunday.