WorldTOKYO, AFP -Foreign ministers from Japan, China and South Korea kicked off a two-day meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday with their countries at odds over territorial disputes, a US missile defence system and perennial regional problem North Korea. Japan and China are locked in a long-running dispute over uninhabited islets, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea, with tensions over them a frequent hindrance to closer ties. “We will deliver Japan's thinking directly and clearly,” a foreign ministry official said regarding the dispute with China. South Korea, wary of offending China, had wavered, but went ahead in the face of North Korea's continued missile development. The leaders met in November last year in South Korea.

Source: Sunday Times August 23, 2016 11:48 UTC