An agreement to organise a visit of the Japanese delegation to China was reached during a meeting between Iwaya and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of the Asia Security Summit, known as the Shangri-La Dialogue, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
During the meeting, the parties also discussed the issue of creating a mechanism to prevent clashes between combat ships and aircraft of the two countries.
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The two states have long been involved in a number of disputes in the East China Sea, in particular, in a row over the mutually contested Senkaku Islands, referred to by China as the Diaoyu Islands, which are located next to important shipping routes, and potentially large oil and gas fields. Japan claims it has possessed the islands since 1895, while Beijing recalls that Japanese maps made in 1783 and 1785 pictured the islands as belonging to China. After World War II, the islands were controlled by the United States until Washington returned them to Japan in 1972. Taiwan and mainland China still believe that Tokyo maintains control over the islands illegally.
