Abe and Xi Set Aside Political Friction

The Straits Times

24 April 2015

ECONOMIC considerations continued to smooth over diplomatic differences as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met for the second time in five months.

Both smiled and looked relaxed as they held sit-down talks for 30 minutes on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Asian African Conference in Jakarta. Earlier, they shook hands while lining up for an official photograph at the event’s opening.

This was a marked difference from their stiff and strained expressions at their meeting during the Apec summit in Beijing last November.

… “Especially for Beijing, which is facing a lot of economic pressure, Japanese investments pulling out of China over the past year, partly attributable to hostile political ties, would be of concern,” said analyst Li Mingjiang of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

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