China, Japan mum as ministers meet

Japanese Trade and Economics Minister Toshihiro Nikai met his Chinese counterpart, Bo Xilai (薄熙來), yesterday, but there was no word of progress in efforts to soothe tension between the two nations.

China-Japan relations have been troubled by a range of issues from a scramble for influence and energy to territorial disputes, but mostly by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a war shrine China sees as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Chinese and Japanese media were quiet after the talks and before Nikai, who arrived in the Chinese capital on Tuesday, was due to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) and State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) in the afternoon.

Nikai is the highest-level Japanese official to meet Chinese leaders in months.

"Japan and China are mutually important partners in trade and economic cooperation," Bo said at the start of the meeting.

The two ministers were expected to discuss trade, the environment and disputed gas fields in the East China Sea, one of several issues that have brought China-Japan relations to their lowest point in decades.

Analysts worry that the lengthy political chill might harm prospering economic ties. China replaced the US as Japan's top trade partner in 2004.

Trade between Japan and China rose 12.7 percent to US$189.4 billion last year, a record high, but the pace of trade expansion was down from 26.9 percent in 2004, according to Japan's External Trade Organization.

Meanwhile, a Japanese province yesterday staked its claim over a tiny island chain administered by South Korea, provoking fresh tension between the neighbors whose ties are also strained by history.

Shimane prefecture in western Japan held a rally, billed as a first annual event, to celebrate its rule over the uninhabited islands called Takeshima, or Bamboo Islands, by Japan and Dokdo, or Lonely Islands, by South Korea.

Some 200 police officers were deployed to guard the Shimane Prefectural Assembly Hall, equal to the number of guests at the rally which included the province's governor and assembly members.

South Korea expressed its "strong regrets" over the ceremony.

"The government will firmly deal with any attempt to infringe on our dominion over Dokdo, which is our proper territory," a foreign ministry statement said in Seoul.