AKIPRESS.COM - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a summit in Indonesia on Wednesday, the latest sign of a thaw in relations between the Asian rivals, reports Reuters.

The meeting took place despite an awkward diplomatic backdrop. Speaking at the conference earlier, Abe warned powerful nations against imposing on the weak, an implicit reference to China. He also made an allusion to Tokyo's remorse in the past over World War Two without issuing a fresh apology.

Also on Wednesday, lawmakers from Abe's ruling party and the opposition visited a Japanese war shrine in Tokyo that is seen in China as a symbol of Tokyo's past militarism.

But Xi and Abe held talks in the early evening in a meeting room at the Jakarta Convention Centre, the venue of the Asian-African summit. "It is ongoing," a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said after the talks started.

Abe and Xi left the room about half an hour later.

Tensions between Asia's two biggest economies have flared in recent years due to feuds over wartime history as well as territorial rows and regional rivalry. Memories of Japan's past military aggression run deep in China and Beijing has repeatedly urged Japan to face up to history.

But the meeting on Wednesday could promote a cautious rapprochement that began when Abe and Xi met at a summit in Beijing late last year.