Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported on August that there are signs of a possible Summit meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) Meeting this November. The newspaper claimed that Abe had indicated that he hoped for such a possibility at a press conference on August 6. It said that signs of a rapprochement emerged after former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda met secretly with Xi Jinping late last month to convey Abe’s eagerness to hold a summit. Yasu Fukuda, who is known for his close ties with the top Chinese leadership, visited China from July 27 to 29. After the talks, Fukuda and Xi Jinping reportedly agreed that both nations should patch things up and work together in an array of fields, including the development of natural resources and environmental technology. The talks apparently took place without input from the Japanese and Chinese foreign ministries, but involved senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party and Fukuda used his own network of diplomatic contacts.

How Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will interact with his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, at a meeting of Foreign Ministers of ASEAN in Myanmar on Aug. 8-10, 2014, could provide a clue to Beijing’s position on the Summit.