Kan, Hu hold 1st bilateral talks since collision row to patch up ties+

YOKOHAMA, Nov. 13 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese President Hu Jintao held their
first official talks Saturday in a step toward mending bilateral ties strained
from a spat stemming from September's collisions between vessels near a group
of disputed islands in the East China Sea, even as both nations stuck to their
positions over sovereignty of the islands.
Tokyo and Beijing have been trying to patch up their relations haunted by
simmering tensions over sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands, which are
controlled by Japan but also claimed by China, which calls them the Diaoyu.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama, who was present at their
face-to-face meeting, told reporters he believes the talks marked a ''big step
forward'' in improving the two nations' soured ties.
Still, the outlook for Sino-Japanese ties remained uncertain, with neither
Japan nor China keen on revealing the details of the Kan-Hu talks. China's
Foreign Ministry announced Saturday evening that the two leaders called for
pursuing strategic, mutually beneficially ties but refrained from referring to
the islands apparently so as not to provoke anti-Japan protests in China.
Following the hastily set up meeting, which took place for a mere 22 minutes on
the sidelines of a two-day Pacific Rim summit in Yokohama from Saturday,
Fukuyama said Kan and Hu shared the view that ''development of long-term,
stable strategic, mutually beneficial ties is of benefit to both countries'
people and is also extremely important to peace and development in the region
and world.''
The two leaders also agreed to further expand public and private sector
exchanges and strengthen cooperation in economic and other global issues in
light of discussions at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and Group of 20
talks, Fukuyama said.
On the Senkakus, Fukuyama said Kan was the first to touch on the matter,
''clearly'' conveying to Hu Japan's ''firm position'' on the islands, but
declined to elaborate on what that position is.
Meanwhile, Hu also conveyed China's position on the islands, the official said,
in a sign that both nations remain apart over the issue.
Japan has said the islands are an integral part of Japanese territory and that
no territorial dispute exists, but China says otherwise.
The row, which was the worst diplomatic spat in years, stemmed from Japanese
authorities' arrest of a Chinese trawler captain Sept. 8 for ramming into one
of two Japan Coast Guard patrol boats a day earlier. The captain was released
in late September following Beijing's strong calls to free him.
Meanwhile, talk about the recent leak of video footage showing collisions
between the Chinese trawler and the two Japanese vessels did not come up during
Kan's talks with Hu, Fukuyama said.
Since the collision incident, top Japanese and Chinese leaders have so far met
informally on the fringes of multilateral meetings -- in Brussels in early
October and in Hanoi later that month. The latest was in Seoul, with Kan
briefly exchanging words with Hu after a meeting of the Group of 20 leaders
Friday.
In Saturday's talks, Kan again mentioned about restoring Japan-China ties to
where they were in June. Kan's previous face-to-face meeting with Hu took place
on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Toronto in June, during which they
agreed to enhance strategic, mutually beneficial relations.
Fukuyama declined to comment further if specific bilateral concerns such as gas
talks were taken up during the meeting, citing diplomatic sensitivity.
To make the entire content of their talks public ''is not necessarily positive
for both parties,'' a Japanese Foreign Ministry source said.
Among other things, Japan wants to restart stalled negotiations aimed at
signing a treaty on joint gas field development in the East China Sea, after
China unilaterally postponed the talks in protest against Tokyo's handling of
the ship collision incident.
At the outset of his meeting with Hu, which was finally set shortly before 5
p.m., Kan said he ''sincerely welcomes'' Hu's visit to Japan to attend APEC.
Hu expressed thanks for inviting him to APEC and said he believes the APEC
talks, which had been ''prepared thoroughly,'' will be ''successful.''
Continuing to cast a shadow on Sino-Japanese ties are the recent spate of
violent anti-Japan protests in China, which occurred even after Kan and Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao had an informal talk in Brussels on Oct. 4 on the fringes of
an Asia-Europe summit and agreed to mend ties.
Kan also met Wen briefly in Hanoi, but it was watered down from the initially
envisioned bilateral talks. Kan's one-on-one meeting with Wen was called off at
the last minute after China accused Japan of ruining the atmosphere for a
possible summit between the countries' leaders, citing among other things a
news report saying Japan and China agreed to restart gas talks. The report
later turned out to be erroneous.
==Kyodo