Japan's ex-envoy to China calls for islets talks

TOKYO - Former Japanese Ambassador to China Yuji Miyamoto has called on Japan and China to start talks soon to fend off any contingency over a group of islands in the East China Sea.

Miyamoto, who served as ambassador to China between 2006 and 2010 and could be tapped by Prime Minister Noda for a second term following the death of Shinichi Nishimiya earlier this month, told Japan's leading news agency Kyodo News Tuesday that he believed Tokyo's refusal to hold dialogue with Beijing over the disputed isles is "not a realistic response."

Japan considers the Senkaku Islands, which China calls Diaoyu Island and affiliated islets, as its inherent territory over which there exists no sovereignty dispute, Miyamoto said, but "a conflict exists in reality over the Senkakus."

"Unless the two countries accept the existence of a conflict and launch talks, there will be no breakthrough," he said. "If the Japanese government starts dialogue (with China), it may face domestic criticism that it has conceded. A political decision is needed."

And if talks over the territorial row start, Japan "needs to win something" in exchange for sitting down at the negotiating table, the 66-year-old ex-envoy said.

Tokyo could urge Beijing to make a compromise in the planned joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea, he explained.

Miyamoto said China believes the government of Noda has nationalized the islands to strengthen Japan's effective control of them, and does not buy its explanation that the move was meant to thwart the intention of Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, a hawkish politician who brought up the "purchase" idea in April.

"China is obsessed with the idea that the Japanese government and Ishihara agreed behind the scene to promote the nationalization of the islands."

Miyamoto also called for bolstering maritime defense by the Japan Coast Guard and the Self-Defense Forces "as a way of advancing diplomatic negotiations effectively." He added, however, that Japan should be careful not to trigger an arms race.