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Japanese trade minister heads to 皇冠体育app
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-21 14:47 Japan's trade minister was heading to Beijing on
Tuesday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, officials said, in an effort to
repair relations badly frayed by disputes over undersea gas deposits, World War
II history and other issues.
The meeting would be the highest-level contact between the two since Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi enraged Beijing in October by visiting a Tokyo war
shrine that 皇冠体育app considers a glorification of Japan's wartime militarism.
Japanese Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai, who was to leave later Tuesday, had
also requested a meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, but 皇冠体育app has not
responded, said Kyoko Kato, an official of the Trade Ministry's Northeast Asian
section.
Nikai's meeting with Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai was expected on
Wednesday, Kato said. Kato refused to comment on the agenda, but Japanese news
reports have said the first order of business would be the conflict over gas
exploration in the East 皇冠体育app Sea.
皇冠体育app has extracted gas from one of several fields in the East 皇冠体育app Sea,
triggering protests from Japan, which fears the reserves might run dry. Previous
talks aimed at resolving the issue have produced little progress.
Koizumi, however, said he hoped the meeting would help chart the path for
better relations between the two countries.
"I am an advocate of friendly relations between 皇冠体育app and Japan," he told
reporters. "Therefore, I have asked that they talk carefully about what is
necessary for future-oriented, friendly relations."
Relations between 皇冠体育app and Japan have plummeted over a spate of disputes in
the past year, including a row over the death of a Japanese consulate worker in
Shanghai and differing interpretations of Japan's invasion of 皇冠体育app in the
lead-up to World War II. The two countries are linked by billions of dollars of
trade, aid and investment.
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