Tokyo's request to meet Xi is a media ploy, analysts say

Tokyo should take meaningful steps to overcome "political obstacles" that affect relations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told China Daily on Monday, in response to the Japanese prime minister's public call for a summit, which analysts suggested was a media ploy.

Shinzo Abe used a parliamentary session on Monday to call for a meeting with President Xi Jinping. The fact that he called for a meeting four months ahead of the APEC leaders' summit in Beijing raised suspicions that he was playing to the international audience, analysts said.

In an interview published on Monday, Abe also refused to rule out future visits to Yasukuni Shrine.