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Japanese politicians head to China amid tensions
Japan's efforts to defuse its row with China inched ahead, with a visiting Japanese lawmaker calling for expanded trade ties and a senior politician making plans to fly to Beijing.
Japan's efforts to defuse its row with China inched ahead on Monday, with a visiting Japanese lawmaker calling for expanded trade ties and a senior politician making plans to fly to Beijing.
The head of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's top policy making body, Hidenao Nakagawa, arrived in Beijing on Monday for talks with Chinese leaders after beginning his China trip in Shanghai.
"China's economic reforms contribute to a favourable Japan-China relationship and so the Japan-China economic cooperation should be expanded," Nakagawa said in Shanghai.
Nakagawa also suggested that Japan and China begin negotiations for a possible bilateral free trade agreement.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government confirmed that Japanese Minister of Economy Trade and Industry, Toshihiro Nikai, would arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for a three-day trip.
During his stay, Nikai, who is known as a `dove’ in Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's hawk-dominated cabinet, will meet with Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai, the government said.
The visits come in the background of relations between China and Japan remaining mired in rows over their wartime history, rival claims to energy resources and fresh allegations involving the 2004 suicide of a Japanese diplomat.
