Japan, China to seek early setup of defense hotline amid isles row

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Monday he had agreed with Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe to seek the early establishment of a hotline between their officials amid tensions over the sovereignty of islands in the East China Sea.During their first talks since Kishi took his post in September, he expressed concern about the tension over the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims and calls Diaoyu, a Japanese Defense Ministry official said at a briefing."I strongly requested that no actions be taken that might escalate the situation," Kishi told reporters after the…READ FULL ARTICLE