Asia-Pacific

Defense envoy warms Tokyo ties

By Li Xiaokun and Qin Jize (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-12 07:42

HANOI - Visiting Defense Minister Liang Guanglie on Monday urged his Japanese counterpart to properly handle the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands during a key meeting between Beijing and Tokyo after ties were frayed over the fierce quarrel last month.

China's Defence Minister Liang Guanglie (right) speaks with Japan's Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa in Hanoi on Monday. [Photo/Xinhua]

Japan has requested a meeting between the two officials on the sidelines of the first session of defense ministers of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) members and eight regional powers including China, the United States and Japan.

Related readings:  US defense chief to visit China  Chinese, Japanese defense ministers talk in Hanoi  China, US defense chiefs plan Hanoi meet  Defense chief holds talks with US counterpart

But China said Liang's schedule was full as the Japanese foreign ministry sent the application too late - on Oct 8.

Thus the two had an unofficial meeting of 20 minutes as they met in the lobby of their hotel.

Sino-Japanese relations have been strained since a collision between two Japan Coast Guard patrol ships and a Chinese trawler on Sept 7 in waters off the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

Beijing then broke off all high-level contacts with Tokyo, after Japan illegally detained the captain.

Liang said China does not wish to see damaged relations over the diplomatic row, and is asking Japan to do more to fully resume normal bilateral ties.

China, he added, always attaches great importance to Sino-Japanese relations and stands in favor of resolving the disputes through dialogues and negotiations.

The discussion signaled the first ministerial-level contact between Beijing and Tokyo after the two prime ministers held a brief meeting last week in Brussels on the sidelines of an Asia-Europe summit.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that Toshimi Kitazawa, the Japanese minister, had asked Liang to build a liaison system for maritime contingency.

Kitazawa also urged his Chinese counterpart to also reconsider postponing a Japanese naval training visit to East China's coastal city of Qingdao. The visit was supposed to have taken place on Friday, but Liang didn't give a positive response.

The Japanese news agency Jiji said the two defense chiefs agreed that China and Japan should move forward with their strategic, mutually beneficial relations, and Kitazawa expressed his willingness to visit Beijing sometime this year.

Asked what effect the talks would have on bilateral relations, Liang told reporters "of course it will be positive", adding that the talks went "very well."

Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of Japanese studies at the China Foreign Affairs University said the informal nature of the meeting between the two defense chiefs is proof that both countries have the willingness to ease the tensions and enhance cooperation.

"Both the Chinese and Japanese politicians share the strategic view to place the two countries as an important engine of the integration of East Asia. Disputes will do no good for bilateral relations," he said.

Liang on Monday also held one-on-one talks with defense chiefs from Australia, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Laos. He also held a meeting with Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

In a joint communique issued by the Chinese and Vietnamese defense ministries after the talks, both sides promised to exchange information and "settle their (various) kinds of disputes in time, in a peaceful way".

The two neighbors have seen heated territorial disputes over some islands in the South China Sea in recent months.

Wang Chenyan contributed to this story.