Tokyo and Beijing agreed Friday to establish a hotline between their leaders to build mutual trust, in Prime Minister Taro Aso’s first meeting as Japanese leader with his Chinese counterparts. Aso agreed in separate talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao to use the hotline “to conduct frequent and timely exchanges of opinion,” the Japanese government said in a statement. Aso, a former foreign minister who has boasted of his record as a diplomat to show his experience in managing Tokyo’s difficult relations with its Asian neighbours, was speaking in Beijing ahead of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). Full Story