JAPAN SEEKS TO EASE TENSIONS WITH CHINA OVER ISLAND DISPUTE

August 30, 2012

On August 28, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda wrote a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao in a diplomatic effort to ease escalating tensions between Japan and China over a disputed island chain in the East China Sea. The letter was delivered to Beijing following an incident on Monday in which the car of Japanese Ambassador to Beijing Uichiro Niwa was stopped and its Japanese flag torn off by an unidentified assailant. According to Japanese chief cabinet secretary Osamu Fujimura, the Japanese government hopes the letter from Prime Minister Noda will help to smooth relations with China and encourage the