Talks help warm up Sino-Japanese ties

The meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi in Tokyo on Wednesday signals both countries are making efforts to ease tensions and melt the ice in their bilateral ties.

Yang, the highest level Chinese official to visit Japan in three years, was in Tokyo to co-chair the second China-Japan high-level political dialogue with Japan's National Security Adviser Shotaro Yachi on Tuesday. During their meeting, they agreed to continue to use the high-level dialogue to improve their relations.

There has been a lot of talk as well about the possible resumption of the trilateral talks between the leaders of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Trilateral summits were held five times from 2008 to 2012, but they have been stalled since then amid regional rows over historical and territorial issues.