Japan and China leaders meet after row, agree talks

Reuters

OUTCRY: A protester holds a placard showing pictures of Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku during a rally at Tokyo's Shibuya district. Thousands of people gathered and marched on Saturday to protest China's claims to the disputed islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku islands in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

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Japanese and Chinese leaders held their first meeting on Monday since a diplomatic feud flared over a collision at sea last month, and agreed to start high level talks to repair their relations.

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan and China's premier Wen Jiabao met for 25 minutes after a working dinner at an Asia-Europe summit in Brussels, their first face-to-face contact since the incident near disputed islands in the East China Sea.

"We both said the current situation is not desirable, and we confirmed a return to the starting point of improving our strategic mutually beneficial relations," Kan told reporters after the meeting.

"We agreed to hold individual high level talks on a suitable basis," adding that he saw the disputed islands as Japanese territory. But Kan, who is under heavy political pressure at home over his handling of the row, did not say who would take part in the talks or when they would be held.

Relations between Asia's two biggest economies dived after Japan's Coast Guard detained a Chinese trawler skipper whose boat collided with two Japanese patrol ships near the disputed but uninhabited islands. The islands are claimed by both countries and are near potentially huge oil and gas reserves.

Monday's meeting, which was not announced in advance, was held just before Kan headed back to Tokyo after attending the first day of the two-day ASEM leaders' meeting.

The move may have been aimed at improving relations before Chinese President Hu Jintao's planned visit to Japan in November for an APEC summit in Yokohama which Tokyo is hosting, a Japanese source said.

The leaders had earlier seemed to avoid each other during the ASEM meeting, staying apart during a photo opportunity, with the Chinese leader pointedly avoiding eye contact with Kan.

Kan, under fire domestically for seeming to cave in to China's demands after the captain was released, made veiled criticism of Beijing in a speech at Brussels meeting.

"It is important to mutually respect shared rules of the international community, including those of transactions of raw materials and trade in order to deepen the mutually interdependent relations between Asia and Europe and to achieve mutual growth," Kan said.

"It is imperative for related countries and regions to take responsible actions to strengthen trust and to establish a foundation for peace and stability."

Kan also sought to gain understanding of Japan's stance at meetings with leaders of South Korea, Australia and Vietnam.

"I said that Japan-China ties are very important for the Asia-Pacific region and the world, and that we will respond calmly from a broad perspective, and I got understanding," Kan told Japanese media. He later met leaders of France and the European Union to give a similar message, Japanese officials said.

The Japanese government's popularity has fallen steeply due to voters' anger about its handling of the feud with China.

Support for Kan's government dropped to 49 percent from 64 percent last month, a survey by the Mainichi newspaper showed. Another opinion poll, by the Yomiuri newspaper, showed a fall to 53 percent from 66 percent in the previous survey.

More than 70 percent of respondents to both surveys said it was inappropriate for Japanese prosecutors to release the Chinese captain without deciding whether to indict him.

TRADE TIES CONCERN

On Saturday, more than 2000 conservative activists rallied in Tokyo to criticise the government's handling of the affair.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, the de facto second most senior member of Kan's government, told Reuters in an interview that the public would eventually come around.

A tough stance by China could put pressure on Tokyo to stiffen its spine in response to the public outcry, deepening worries about damage to trade even as Japan increasingly relies on China for economic growth. Japan became China's biggest trade partner last year.

China has released three Japanese citizens who were detained on suspicion of illegally entering a military zone, but one remains in custody.

"It could turn into a nightmare for Kan if he faces impossible and conflicting demands from all corners," said Sophia University professor Koichi Nakano.