Prime Minister Fumio Kishida plans to hold talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next week on the sidelines of an international gathering in Southeast Asia, diplomatic sources said Monday.
If realized, it would be the first summit between the political leaders of Japan and China since December 2019. The meeting would come shortly after Xi secured himself a precedent-breaking third five-year term last month as general-secretary of the ruling Communist Party.
Kishida would seek to call on Xi to resolve issues surrounding Taiwan in a peaceful manner through dialogue, amid growing fears that communist-led China could take military action in a bid to unify the self-ruled and democratically governed island, the sources said.