The two-day conference of university scholars and think tank experts, held Thursday and Friday, was organized by Peking University, and the Brookings Institution and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the U.S., as well as Keizai Koho Center in Japan.

Discussions dealt primarily with the recent tensions between Japan and China and possible ways to bridge the gap between the two nations, the organizers said.

The participants concurred that U.S. involvement in Japan-China ties is important because of the U.S. political, economic and security interests that affect policies and perceptions of countries in the region, they added.

The participants included Koji Watanabe, senior adviser to Keizai Koho Center, Yukio Okamoto, former special adviser to the prime minister, Wu Jianmin, president of the China Foreign Affairs University, and James Steinberg, vice president of the Brookings Institution.