China won't confirm Japan meeting as tensions return

BEIJING (Reuters) - China refused to say on Thursday whether Premier Wen Jiabao will meet Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan at a regional summit this month, and a Beijing diplomat accused Tokyo's foreign minister of rekindling ill-will.

The swipe at Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara by Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue exposed the prickly tensions that still dog ties between Asia's two biggest economies, despite their efforts to overcome a maritime dispute.

Hu told a news conference that whether Wen and Kan have a bilateral meeting during an Asian summit in Hanoi from October 28 rested on creating a "suitable atmosphere," and Beijing holds Tokyo responsible for not doing that, he said.

"We hope that Japan and China can both come together and take practical steps to show their sincerity in seeking to improve relations between our two countries, rather than continuing to make remarks that fly in the face of that, and doing things that fly in the face of that," Hu told a news conference in Beijing.

China's sharp words may reopen tensions when Asian economies are looking for Beijing and Tokyo to overcome their quarrels.

Sino-Japanese relations tumbled last month after Japan detained a Chinese trawler captain whose boat collided with Japanese patrol ships near a chain of disputed islands -- called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Before the captain's release, China canceled diplomatic meetings in protest. Concerns have been simmering that Beijing is holding back shipments of rare earth minerals that are vital for electronics goods and auto parts.

Kan and Wen both called for better ties at an informal meeting in Brussels earlier this month, but they also stressed their claims to the uninhabited islands.

Japan and China have been trying to arrange a meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the gathering in Vietnam.

The Chinese diplomat Hu said that Japan's foreign minister had on October 15 undercut efforts to repair ties by saying that there was no need to rush to hold the leaders' summit.

Maehara also said then that Japan would "not budge an inch" regarding its claim to sovereignty over the islands.

"To every day make speeches attacking China and to go so far as uttering words that should never come from the mouth of a diplomat is something that, well, I don't wish to add comment because that's not our style," said Hu.

"When I say we need an atmosphere, need to create conditions (for the meeting), I have a basis for it."

Japanese officials say they remain committed to improving ties with China, which chilled in 2001-2006 under then-premier Junichiro Koizumi. He made repeated visits to the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo, deemed by China and other neighbors an offensive symbol of Japan wartime militarism.

Koizumi's successors have stayed away from the shrine.

"Even in 100 years or 500 years, China will still be Japan's neighbor. Without a doubt, Japan-China relations are important for both. China's economic growth and development is a chance for Japan," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama told Reuters on Wednesday.

"On the other hand, we are concerned about China's strengthening of its military and its strong interests in maritime rights," he said.

The sea dispute continues to stoke public ire in both nations. China urged citizens to stay within the law in their "understandable" anger at Japan after protests in a few inland Chinese cities over the weekend.

In Tokyo on Saturday, more than 2,000 protesters marched to the Chinese Embassy, waving flags and chanting in opposition to China's claim to the uninhabited islands.

Hu said Beijing valued relations with Japan but suggested that the meeting between Wen and Kan in Brussels did not mean that the latest tensions were over.

"We can't afford to have these constant ructions," he said. "Why with such a promising start, do you have to constantly stir things up?"

(Additional reporting by reporting by Yoko Kubota and Linda Sieg in TOKYO; Editing by Andrew Marshall)