Political trust key to Sino-Japanese ties

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng and Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba exchanged views on bilateral ties and international and regional issues of common concern at the China-Japan Strategic Dialogue in Japan on Saturday, which concluded with a proclaimed commitment to "building a China-Japan relationship consistent with the demands of a new era".

Although more symbolic than about technical specifics, the Dialogue, the 14th of its kind, was a further sign that ties are recovering, as it was the first to be held after a seven-year hiatus due to the two countries' longstanding diplomatic impasse.

Created in 2005, the mechanism served as an important channel for strategic communication between the two countries until its suspension in 2012. Frequent, timely bilateral interaction proved an essential anchor of bilateral ties in times of crises, until it came to a stop after the 13th, when Beijing and Tokyo locked horns over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.