Japan and China's foreign and defense officials will hold their first bilateral security talks on Monday in Beijing since March 2015, according to Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida.

The meeting will be attended by the countries' top foreign and defense ministry officials including Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba and Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, the Japan's foreign ministry added.

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What is the Agenda of the Meeting?

The upcoming bilateral security talks will reportedly tackle North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs and the rising tensions in the East China Sea.

Akiba will allegedly discuss separately with Kong on Tuesday the preparations for a planned trilateral summit between Japan, China, and South Korea in Tokyo by the end of this year.

First Bilateral Security Talk for 2016

As mentioned earlier, Monday's meeting will mark the first bilateral  security talks between Japan and China for this year since March 2015. It could be noted that it took both countries at least four years to materialize last year's security talks in Japan.

The series of meeting comes amid the ongoing territorial dispute in the East China Sea. Chinese coast guard vessels reportedly continue to intrude the Japanese waters around the Senkaku Islands, which is also being claimed by China. 

Hoping for a Mutually Beneficial Relationship

Japan and  China are going through one of the most challenging strategic phases with lots of underlying issues that are somewhat connected on what happened in the history. Many are hoping that this upcoming bilateral security talks will lead to a better understanding with each other and will establish a mutually beneficial relationship.

TagsJapan, china, Bilateral Security Talk, East China Sea, Senkaku Islands