|
FMs of China and Japan set to mend fences
By Hu Xiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-29 00:03
Foreign ministers from China and Japan are likely to meet on the sidelines of
Asia-Europe foreign ministerial talks in Tokyo early next month, China's foreign
ministry said yesterday.
The meetings have been planned as relations between the two countries
remained difficult.
China's Li Zhaoxing and Japan's Nobutaka Machimura are expected to meet
during the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) for foreign ministers in Kyoto on
May 6 and 7, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a regular
briefing.
When asked whether there will be a meeting between the foreign ministers of
China and Japan, Qin said: "To the best of my knowledge, there should be such
arrangements."
However, he stressed the two sides should creat proper condition for
higher-level exchanges between as well create the right atmosphere.
Li's meeting follows the meeting in Indonesia over the weekend between
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in a
tension time in Sino-Japanese relations.
Protests have been running high in Japan's neighbouring countries, including
China since Japanese Government approved new middle-school textbooks early this
month which distort history and whitewash its wartime atrocities.
As for the disputes on boundary demarcations at the East China Sea, Qin said
China hopes for an early round of consultation with Japan on the issue, noting
all questions concerned by the two sides could be raised during the
consultation.
The Tokyo government recently initiated procedures to grant Japanese firms
the right to conduct test drilling for potential gas and oil fields in disputed
areas in the East China Sea.
Following Japan's announcement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the
move was a provocation to China's rights and the norm of international
relations, calling the two sides to solve the question through consultations and
propose putting aside disputes and engaging in joint exploitation.
US envoy visit
The chief US envoy on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue said the United
States is willing to stick to the six-party talks for a peaceful settlement of
the nuclear issue through dialogue, Qin told reporters yesterday.
He quoted US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who visited China
on Tuesday, as saying that the United States could "do many things" if the six-
party talks were restarted.
Beijing is the second stop of Hill's three-nation trip which also took him to
Seoul on Monday and Tokyo on Wednesday.
Three rounds of six-party talks have been held to try to resolve the nuclear
issue on the Korean Peninsula. The talks have been stalled since June last year
when Pyongyang accused Washington of adopting hostile policy towards
it.
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top China
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
