Abe eyes bilateral talks with Li, Hasina in Mongolia
Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may hold bilateral talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when he visits Mongolia for three days from Thursday to attend an Asia-Europe summit, Japanese government sources said Tuesday.
Abe hopes to agree with Li to make efforts to defuse tensions, following recent incidents, including one in which a Chinese warship sailed near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, the sources said. The islands are claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu, according to a report of The Japan Times.
He will also convey Japan's hope to launch at an early date a proposed communication mechanism for preventing accidental East China Sea clashes between the two countries' ships or aircraft.
The Japanese side will call on China to abide by the Permanent Court of Arbitration's ruling on Tuesday that basically rejected China's claims to historical and other rights in the South China Sea over its territorial dispute with the Philippines, the sources said.
Also on the agenda at the expected Abe-Li meeting will be responses to North Korea's nuclear arms and missile programs, and ways to enhance economic exchanges between Japan and China, The Japan Times reports quoting the sources.
Abe and Hasina are expected to confirm cooperation in implementing anti-terror measures and ensuring the safety of Japanese nationals in Bangladesh, following a terrorist siege at a restaurant in Dhaka earlier this month that killed seven Japanese and other hostages, the sources said.
Abe may also hold a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the sidelines of the two-day summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting, or ASEM, forum in Ulan Bator from Friday, the sources said.
The are likely to exchange views on responses to Britain's decision to leave the European Union in a historic national referendum last month, the sources said.
No official bilateral meeting is planned between Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye. But there is a possibility of the two leaders having a brief dialogue, the sources said.
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