The Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers have held talks on a bitter row over disputed islands.
The meeting came on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The Japanese minister described the atmosphere as severe, Kyodo News agency said, while his Chinese opposite number restated Beijing's sovereignty over the islands, Xinhua news agency said.
The islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are controlled by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan.
Tension in the region has been high since Japan's purchase of the islands from their private Japanese owner.
Both Chinese and Taiwanese fishing and surveillance vessels have sailed in and out of waters around the islands - which lie in the East China Sea - in recent days.
On Tuesday, Japanese and Taiwanese ships sprayed water at each other after a Taiwanese flotilla briefly entered what Japan says are its territorial waters.
A Japanese foreign ministry official warned that the presence of such vessels risked a "miscalculation" or "accident", the Associated Press news agency reported. 'Gross violation'
The meeting between Japan's Koichiro Gemba and China's Yang Jiechi took place late on Tuesday.
Mr Yang "reiterated China's solemn position" on the islands, Xinhua said, calling the Japanese government's purchase "a gross violation of China's territorial integrity and sovereignty".
Mr Gemba urged China to exercise restraint and described the mood as "severe", Kyodo news agency reported.
The row over ownership of the islands has been rumbling for years and has flared sporadically. This time, it has led to anti-Japanese protests in several Chinese cities and a warning from China that economic ties could be affected.
A number of Japanese companies were forced to briefly halt operations earlier this month because of protests.
On Wednesday the Toyota Motor Corporation confirmed that it was cutting back production in China because of a slowdown in orders and sales. A spokesperson would not elaborate on how much of a reduction was planned.
A ceremony due to mark 40 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations has also been cancelled.
The Japanese government moved to buy the islands in response to a potentially much more provocative plan by right-wing Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara to buy and develop them using public donations.
The row comes at a time when both China and Japan are facing political changes domestically, making it difficult for either side to be seen as backing down.
(Posted by Jacob Y., from BBC News)
Now China and Japan are cutting their economic ties to each other so if something does happen none of their economic business would be effected. Why are these islands so important? Are China, Japan, and Taiwan using these islands as an excuse to fight one another? (Sara K.)
ReplyDeleteApparently, these islands are very rich in resources and have some type of gas deposits? At least that's what I read from one of the previous articles. It sounds to me like China has no claim to these islands. Japan bought them privately, so they were never China's to begin with. But islands are historically areas of dispute. Just look at any island in the Caribbean. They have aspects of several different cultures because of changed ownership. If that's the case here, we probably won't see a solution any time soon.
ReplyDeleteThat last one is Mae Markowski by the way
ReplyDeleteI feel as though this is a story that is being under-reported on by much of the mainstream news. Such a dispute could possibly lead to a conflict between the China and Japan.
ReplyDelete^Alex Canan
ReplyDeletejapan and china are currently engaged in a power struggle over a group of islands in the pacific.both countries clain that the islands belong to them.the conflict between the two countries is beginning to have a negative effect on their economies.examples are the disagreements over fishing rights and chinas recluctants to buy japenese cars.
ReplyDeletei thinks that the relationship between these two countries migh escalate to a war and this war could lead to U.S. involvment.thats the last thing the U.S. needs to get into.
published by: Brionna Scott