Aso trip delay 'not due to dispute'

China and Japan are still discussing the date of Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's planned visit to the mainland, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday, dismissing reports that China had requested a delay "due to a territorial dispute".

"China and Japan are discussing the date through diplomatic channels. The issue of delaying or canceling the visit does not exist," Qin Gang, the ministry's spokesman, said at a regular news briefing.

Japan's Mainichi newspaper reported yesterday that China had requested Japan to cancel Aso's three-day trip, scheduled to start on March 27, due to the lingering dispute over the Diaoyu Islands, five uninhabited islets located between Taiwan and Okinawa.