China, Japan agree to resume dialogue and normalise ties

After over two years of bitter fracas on the disputed islands in East China sea, China and Japan today reached a four-point agreement to bury the hatchet and normalise bilateral ties between Asia's two biggest economies.

Ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit here to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, to be held on November 10-11, the two sides reached a four- point agreement to improve bilateral ties, agreeing to resume political, diplomatic and security dialogue, while acknowledging different positions on the disputed islands.

The agreement was reached as Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi met with visiting National Security Advisor of Japan Shotaro Yachi, China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The agreement in principle was expected to pave the way for the first one-to-one meeting between Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of APEC summit that remained elusive for over an year.

The showdown between the two countries began when Japan nationalised the islands called by China as Diaoyu islands, which were referred as Senkakus in the East China Sea.
The islands were in the administrative control of Japan.

In the last two years, China tried breaking that control by pressing its naval vessels and aircraft to aggressively patrol the islands waters and skies, often jostling with Japanese vessels.
Beijing also launched a massive propaganda offensive against Tokyo, highlighting the World War-II excesses committed by Japanese troops, besides Abe's attempts to change Japan's pacifist constitution.