TOKYO - Japan wants to hold a leaders' meeting with China sometime in October, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said on Wednesday, adding that a visit to Beijing by new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was one option.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso speaks to reporters during an interview at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo September 27, 2006. [Reuters]

Aso said a change in the Japanese government provided a chance to resume the summits, which Beijing had refused to hold with former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi due to his visits to a Tokyo shrine to war dead seen as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

"We'd like to hold it sometime in October," said Aso, who was reappointed as Japan's top diplomat on Tuesday after Abe was elected prime minister by parliament.

Asked if this meant that Abe might visit China, Aso said that Japan should look into all options.

"When there's been a change, it's good timing," he added.

China and South Korea refused to hold summit meetings with Koizumi because of his annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese World War Two leaders convicted as war criminals are honoured along with the war dead.

Speculation has grown that Abe might meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao after taking office, perhaps on the sidelines of a November Asian Pacific leaders' gathering in Hanoi.

The hawkish Abe, who backed Koizumi's visits to the shrine but has not said if he would do the same, said on Tuesday he intends to try improving relations with China.
The latest round of talks by top Japanese and Chinese diplomats towards resuming the summits, however, ended in Tokyo on Tuesday with gaps remaining.

Aso sidestepped the question when asked if this result was due to a lack of clarity from Abe regarding Yasukuni, saying that the Chinese diplomats had to consult with their government.

"This sort of thing takes time," he added.

An official Chinese newspaper warned on Wednesday that Abe's ambiguous stance regarding visits to Yasukuni could block improved ties with Beijing.

The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of China's ruling Communist Party, also said in a commentary that Abe's attitudes towards Asia were "ambivalent."

"We can say that the obstacles to political relations between China and Japan have not been cleared, and the direction of Japan's relations with its Asian neighbours continues to hold disturbing concerns and perils," it said."
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Abe was willing to meet South Korean or Chinese leaders at any time to try to resolve issues of concern, including territorial disputes and regional anger over official visits to a controversial Tokyo war shrine, The Associated Press reported.

Visits to the shrine by Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, prompted China's leadership to abandon high level talks between the two nations last year.

In nationally televised comments Tuesday Abe, 52, who was elected Tuesday with strong majorities in both houses of parliament, appeared to offer an olive branch to Beijing.

"China is a very important country for Japan, and China's development is a plus also for Japan," Abe said.

"I will work to further develop relations between China and Japan."

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