Abe meets Xi, says ties have improved

Jakarta

JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second time in less than six months on Wednesday, in a sign his efforts to turn the page on Japan's past aggression won't derail an improvement in ties.

The longer-than-expected 29-minute meeting came hours after Mr Abe barely mentioned remorse over World War II in a speech in Jakarta that will set the tone for his statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of the conflict. A day earlier he drew Chinese criticism after sending an offering to a Tokyo war shrine seen by many in China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.