China, Japan leaders meet amid row over islands

[October 30, 2010]  HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- The prime ministers of Japan and China met informally at a regional summit Saturday amid a diplomatic row that has plunged the two countries' relations to a five-year low.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he was able to talk briefly with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, but noted that a full bilateral meeting "unfortunately did not materialize this time."

However, Kan said the current spat should not be regarded as "a decisive trouble," saying the two countries have weathered a long history together.

"This sort of trouble that we're seeing right now, compared to various incidents we've had in the long history of our relations, would not be regarded as a decisive trouble. And I think both countries remain calm and try to come up with solutions that would be positive to both countries ... in terms of peace and stability for the Asia-Pacific and the entire world," he told reporters.

There had been speculation the two would not meet at all because on Friday, China unexpectedly accused Japan of "ruining the atmosphere" for talks and making untrue statements about East China Sea islands both countries claim.

The diplomatic row started after a Chinese fishing trawler and two Japanese patrol boats collided near the islands a month ago and Japan detained the captain, which outraged China.

Anti-Japanese sentiment has long bubbled beneath the surface in China over Japan's brutal World War II occupation of much of the country. The current dispute prompted street protests in China, canceled meetings and Chinese restrictions on key metal exports that drew international concern, including from the United States.

It was hoped the regional summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, could provide a venue for China and Japan to mend fences. Their rift has overshadowed the meeting hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which formally invited U.S. and Russia to join the 16-member East Asia forum.

In a speech to Asian leaders on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that America has a direct national security interest in seeing peaceful resolutions to competing claims over islands and would remain a major power in the Asia-Pacific.

"The United States has a national interest in the freedom of navigation and unimpeded lawful commerce," Clinton told the meeting. "And when disputes arise over maritime territory, we are committed to resolving them peacefully based on customary international law."

[Associated Press; By MATTHEW LEE and MARGIE MASON]

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