Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida’s regional diplomacy skills will  be tested in Brunei this weekend as he looks to improve ties with China and South Korea.

Japan’s relations with both neighbors have been strainedover its wartime history and disputes over the Japan-controlled Senkakus chain in the East China Sea, which is claimed by China and Taiwan, and a pair of South Korean-held but Japan-claimed islets in the Sea of Japan.

Kishida plans to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday and with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se the following day during the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meeting in Brunei.

In April, Yun canceled plans to visit Japan to protest ceremonial visits made by Cabinet members to Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto facility widely viewed as a symbol of the country’s former militarism. And Sino-Japanese relations have been very rocky for over a year as a result of the island disputes.

Kishida’s goal appears to be resetting relationship with both China and South Korea as all three nations are heavily integrated financially and these political disputes has been adversely affecting each nation.

Japanese officials hope Kishida’s interaction with Wang and Yun will lead to bilateral summits when the leaders of the three countries fly to St. Petersburg, Russia, for a Group of 20 summit in early September, diplomatic sources said.

The Japan Times