Japan PM calls for summit with China president in November

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday he hopes to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in November in Beijing to improve bilateral relations.
"It is very regrettable that we have not been able to hold a leaders' summit," Abe told a parliamentary committee.
"There are always problems between any neighboring countries, and therefore we should maintain a relationship that keeps the whole under control. This is the basic of a strategically mutually beneficial relationship," the premier said.
"I hope to have a summit meeting during the APEC meeting," said. Abe.
"My door is always open for dialogue. I hope China will take the same stance," he added.
Japan's relations with China have been strained due to a territorial dispute and differences over wartime history. Abe has not held formal bilateral meetings with Chinese leaders since taking office in December 2012.
The two countries are at odds in a dispute over the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, a group of uninhabited islets controlled by Japan but claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.
Last December Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine, drawing strong a severe criticism from China. The shrine honors 14 World War II Class-A war criminals along with 2.5 million war dead.
For China, which suffered from Japan's aggression in the early 20th century, the Yasukuni Shrine is a symbol of its militant past and considers visits to the shrine by leading Japanese politicians insensitive and insulting.