Hanoi, Vietnam (AHN) – Defense ministers from Japan and China met on the sidelines of a regional meeting here Monday and agreed to work toward a resumption of diplomatic ties.

At the first regional meeting of defense chiefs of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie and his counterpart, Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, met discreetly and discussed the possibility of resuming diplomatic ties between their two countries.

Guanglie told Kitazawa that he hoped Japan would work to restore the relationship to to normal, adding that China is for promoting mutual understanding through dialogue.

Kitazawa agreed and replied by noting that it would be “unproductive” to discuss in Hanoi their countries’ conflicting territorial claims over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Liang was also reported to have told Kitazawa: “I am grateful that the row was dealt with from the perspective of safeguarding our countries’ relations.”

China and Japan were recently enmeshed in a diplomatic row involving the arrest and detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain who entered disputed territorial area in the East China Sea, rich in oil and gas reserves, claimed by both China and Japan.

The fishing boat captain has since been released after more than two weeks of detention in Okinawa, Japan, and was returned to China on Sept. 25.

China suspended high-level diplomatic talks with Japan because of the incident.

View full post on Politics Stories