1st summit between Ishiba, China Xi eyed for Friday

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese President Xi Jinping are likely to hold their first summit on Friday in Peru, a government source said Tuesday.

The two leaders are expected to meet on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum gatherings and confirm that they will seek "strategic and mutually beneficial" relations, more than a month after Ishiba became prime minister in October, the source added.

Ishiba is scheduled to visit Peru for the APEC meetings from Thursday and travel to Brazil for a summit of the Group of 20 economies.

Xi sent Ishiba a message congratulating him on his election as Japanese prime minister on Oct 1, which Japan's top government spokesman described at the time as "positive" for bilateral relations.

Ishiba is expected to express concern about China's increasing military activity around Japan after it breached Japanese airspace in August for the first time.

The two leaders may also discuss efforts toward China's resumption of Japanese seafood imports, the source said, as Beijing has agreed to gradually lift a ban that has been in place since the release of treated radioactive water into the ocean began at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2023.

Ishiba met Chinese Premier Li Qiang for the first time on Oct. 10 during his diplomatic debut as Japan's leader in Laos.

Bilateral relations have frayed over wartime history and territory, with China continuing to send patrol ships to waters near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The uninhabited islets are administered by Japan but claimed by China.

Arrangements are also being made for Ishiba, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to meet in Peru, a government source said earlier.