China, Japan officials meet in sour mood
By
Hiroshi Hiyama
AFP
TOKYO
Petroleumworld.com 02 10 06
China's vice foreign minister met Japanese leaders Thursday on
the eve of high-level talks between the giant neighbours, who
are locked in a bitter dispute over Tokyo's wartime past.
Dai Bingguo held talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso
in the first visit by a high-ranking Chinese official since Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi infuriated Beijing in October by visiting
a controversial war shrine.
Takeshi Noda, a Koizumi critic within his Liberal Democratic Party
who was visiting Beijing, quoted Chinese State Councillor Tang
Jiaxuan as telling him Wednesday that relations were unlikely
to improve until Koizumi leaves office.
Aso was widely believed to have told Dai that Koizumi visits the
Yasukuni shrine to pledge that Japan will never wage war again
and to pay tribute to the war dead.
The Japanese foreign ministry said in a terse press release that
Aso and Dai "exchanged views on Japan-China relations in
a cordial atmosphere" in their first-ever meeting. It did
not mention the shrine issue.
Earlier, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, the spokesman for
the Koizumi government, said Tang's reported remarks were "inappropriate"
and pointed the finger of blame at Beijing.
"It appears inconsistent with the Chinese leadership's statements
that it regards Japan-China relations as significant," Abe
told a news conference.
"Our country's policy remains the same, that we are trying
to develop future-oriented relations between Japan and China."
Noda, as quoted by China Central Television, said responsibility
for the impasse was "mainly on the Japanese side".
Koizumi has infuriated China as well as South Korea by paying
an annual pilgrimage to Yasukuni, which honors 2.5 million Japanese
war dead including 14 top war criminals from World War II.
In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan again called
for Koizumi to end the "political obstacle" of the visits.
"We have to remove the political obstacles in Sino-Japan
relations and get our relations on the track of normal development,"
Kong said. "This serves the fundamental interests of the
people in our two countries."
"We expect the people of vision from Japan from various walks
of life to make efforts with us to further step up exchanges and
cooperation in economy, culture, education and other fields,"
Kong said.
Despite the bilateral friction, China is Japan's largest trading
partner, leading much of the Japanese business community to push
for an easing of tensions.
But in addition, the two countries are at odds over oil and gas
in a disputed area of the East China Sea. Japan was also angered
when China worked to scuttle its cherished bid for a permanent
seat on the UN Security Council last year.
Koizumi in October appointed prominent hardliners to his cabinet,
including Aso.
Dai was due to meet his Japanese counterpart Shotaro Yachi on
Friday and Saturday for the first time in four months.
Earlier, the Chinese vice foreign minister met with Japanese Senior
Vice Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki.
They exchanged views on cooperation for "common goals from
regional and global viewpoints" and on the importance of
promotion of mutual understanding, the foreign ministry said in
its press release.
AFP
02/09/06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All rights reserved
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