China conveyed its willingness to advance dialogue with Japan at their leaders' brief chat in Indonesia last month despite a row over the treated radioactive water release from the crippled Fukushima nuclear complex into the sea, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.
"China-Japan relations are important, so we need to promote exchanges," Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida when they had a brief conversation in Jakarta on Sept. 6 on the fringes of ASEAN-related summits, according to the sources.
Seeing Li's remarks as a sign of Beijing's willingness to seek a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Kishida, Tokyo aims to realize the summit on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum's leaders gathering in November in San Francisco, the sources said.
China has expressed fierce opposition to the water discharge into the Pacific Ocean beginning on Aug. 24 from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant devastated by a massive 2011 earthquake and tsunami, citing concerns over human health and environment.
Beijing has also imposed a blanket ban on Japanese seafood imports, which Tokyo has criticized as lacking scientific grounds and demanded its withdrawal.
The water release started after the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report submitted to the Japanese government in early July that the plan complies with global safety standards and would have a "negligible" impact on people and the environment.
The Japanese and Chinese governments each issued a press release after the Kishida-Li conversation, but there was no reference to Li's remark on a need for dialogue.
The Chinese government decided not to disclose Li's remarks welcoming dialogue with Japan, possibly worrying it might provoke a negative response in Chinese public opinion, according to the sources.
Later in September, Kishida did not touch on the water discharge issue in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, in an apparent effort not to escalate friction with China and to pave the way for a summit with Xi, the sources said.
Li's remarks appeared to suggest China places importance on its economic ties with Japan at a time its economic growth is slowing, the sources said.
The brief chat between Kishida and Li took place ahead of the ASEAN Plus Three meeting that involved leaders of Japan, China and South Korea, along with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
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