Xi shifted gears on Japan’s claim to Russian-held isles in Putin meet

Beijing – Chinese language President Xi Jinping didn’t assist Japan’s declare over Russian-held islands off Hokkaido in his talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin final month, in keeping with a Chinese language supply aware of the matter, ditching a long-held stance of recognizing them as Tokyo’s.

Xi instructed Putin of their conferences in Moscow that China “doesn’t take both facet” relating to the territorial row, in a shift to neutrality from China’s place indicated by then-Chinese language chief Mao Zedong in 1964 to view the 4 disputed islands as belonging to Japan, the supply mentioned.

Bilateral negotiations over the islands referred to as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia have been suspended since Tokyo imposed punitive sanctions towards Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.