Japan Sounded Out Russia on a Takaichi-Putin Dialogue at the Shenzhen APEC Summit and Has No Clear Reply Yet, Japanese Media Report
Japan has sounded out Russia on holding a dialogue between Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' meeting in Shenzhen, China, on November 18 to 19, Fuji News Network and The Yomiuri Shimbun reported separately on November 13, each citing Japanese government sources. Russia has given no clear answer, and whether the dialogue will happen remains uncertain.
Both outlets said that if the talks take place, Tokyo wants to raise two issues first: the early release of a Hokkaido Shimbun journalist detained by Russia's Federal Security Service on Sakhalin on October 13 on suspicion of espionage, and the assets of Japan Tobacco in Russia. By decrees signed on November 5 and 6, Putin placed all seven of the group's Russian entities under temporary Russian administration, and Japan's finance minister has lodged a formal protest demanding the move be withdrawn.
Asked about a leaders' dialogue at his press conference on the evening of November 13, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said any decision would be judged comprehensively in light of the national interest, neither confirming nor denying that an approach had been made. The government announced the same day that Takaichi will travel from November 16 to 19, first to Manila in the Philippines and then to Shenzhen for the APEC leaders' meeting, her first trip to China since taking office.
(Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun)
Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：日本首相高市早苗官方肖像（日本内阁广报室，CC BY 4.0），经 Wikimedia Commons，本站档案图复用。 / Photo: Official portrait of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (Cabinet Public Affairs Office, Japan, CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons; GSM archive reuse.
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