Japan keen to address 'soured' relations with China following 'island spat'

Sydney, Aug 28 (ANI): Japan's Foreign Minister, Koichiro Gemba, has said it is time to address Tokyo's soured relations with China, especially with regard to a territorial dispute involving a set of islets in the East China Sea.

The situation between the two countries aggravated further after the national flag was ripped off a car carrying the Japanese ambassador in Beijing amid widespread anti-Japan demonstrations over disputes regrading an island chain known in China as Diaoyu and in Japan as Senkaku.

"I believe that we must exchange opinions now on the situation of Japan-China relations, on the situation of the region as a whole, including the Korean peninsula, as well as the global situation," the Herald Sun quoted Gemba, as saying.

Describing the incident as "very regrettable", Gemba said he would send an envoy to deliver a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao.

He declined to elaborate on the contents, but said it was a good opportunity to address ties that have soured over the island dispute.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, the government's top spokesman claimed the letter to Hu was about "developing stable Japan-China relations based on a broad view", the paper said.

Despite their large and mutually important trade relationship, ties between Tokyo and Beijing are often blighted by historical animosities, especially war-time atrocities carried out by the invading Japanese army, it added. (ANI)