Japan, China to resume 'maritime hotline' talks

Japanese and Chinese governments of Japan and China will restart talks on creating a maritime hotline as early as next month, for the first time in over two years, Japan's public broadcaster NHK reported Friday.
Japaneses Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed in November to advance talks to set up the mechanism, which would prevent an unexpected military encounter in the waters and airspace of the East China Sea.
Japan is calling to resume working-level talks which have been suspended since June 2012 after Japan purchased some of the disuputed islands in the East China Sea from private ownership in September that year. The countries sides have already agreed to creating a communication mechanism, which would include holding regular consultations between defense officials from both countries. The two countries are at odds in a dispute over the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, a group of uninhabited islets controlled by Japan but claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.
If the hotline talks resume, officials will discuss details and where it should be set up. The communications mechanism is expected to connect not only the Maritime Self-Defense Force and Chinese Navy, but also the Air Self-Defense Force and Chinese Air Force.