Asian neighbours voiced concerns on Thursday over strained ties between Japan and China, warning that a further worsening of bilateral relations would hurt efforts towards regional integration.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi arrives at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo Monday, Oct. 17, 2005. [AP]

Speaking at a Tokyo symposium, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said deteriorating relationships in Northeast Asia were hurting economic ties in all of Asia, which had become closer than ever.

"I am afraid I have to be candid and say the situation has worsened. Our economics is pushing us in one direction, but our politics is pulling us in another," Abdullah told participants, which included other Asian leaders, diplomats and academics.

"In addition to the difficulties between Beijing and Tokyo, relations between Seoul and Tokyo have also become further strained ... We should not allow regional cooperation to be held hostage to bilateral constraints."

Abdullah hosted the inaugural East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur in December, where the 10 members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India, agreed to try to create a regional community.

Japan's ties with China and South Korea turned sour after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi came into power in 2001, largely due to his annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine which both Beijing and Seoul see as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Koizumi has said he makes the pilgrimages to pray for peace and pay respects to Japan's war dead, who are enshrined there. But China and South Korea protest the fact that convicted war criminals, including wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo, are also honoured there.

Disputes over territorial claims and energy resources have also hurt Sino-Japanese ties, the Philippines ambassador to Japan Domingo Siazon said, adding that the lack of a leaders' meeting between the Asian giants was of concern.

"The non-event that worries all is the utter vacuum created by suspension of the highest level dialogue among the region's biggest states," Siazon said.

China has refused to hold a summit on its soil because of Koizumi's Yasukuni visits, while Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers met on Tuesday on the sidelines of an international conference in Doha, for the first time in nearly a year.

Chinese ambassador to Japan, Wang Yi, said it was up to Tokyo to make efforts to improve the relationship.

"I would like (Japan) to avoid once again hurting the feelings of people who were victims of the war ... I hope it would make a wise decision that would be in Japan's national interest, would improve its image abroad and lead to true understanding with its neighbours."