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China, Japan look to make progress on talks
(AP/AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-22 07:21
Visits to the Yasukuni shrine remained a source of
Chinese fury, said foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.
"On this issue, Japan should not have any illusions, make any excuses or find
any pretext to cover up their acts or even push the responsibility to the
Chinese side," he said. "All these efforts will be in vain."
Liu said China required Japan to take "the correct view" on the Yasukuni
issue.
"This is an important political foundation for Sino-Japan relations. If this
is undermined, then Sino-Japanese relations would also be undermined greatly,
just like what is happening today."
A Beijing-based Japanese official, who did not want to be named, said Nikai's
trip would be a step forward in efforts to ease tensions between the two
nations, even if he makes no concrete progress.
"In the last few months, there has been almost no communication between the
top leaders of the two countries. So in that sense, it's a positive sign for
Japan-China relations," he said.
One focus of Nikai's talks will be economic issues,
including gas development in a disputed area of the East China Sea.
The two countries disagree over ownership of natural gas fields in the East
China Sea. Previous talks aimed at resolving the issue have produced little
progress.
China-Japan relations also have been damaged by a dispute over the death of a
Japanese consulate worker in Shanghai and differing interpretations of Japan's
pre-World War II invasion of China.
Joseph Cheng, a China watcher at the City University of Hong Kong, said both
nations were now hoping to improve chilly ties after a very rocky few months in
which nationalist fervor surged on both sides.
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