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China rules out meeting with Koizumi
(Xinhua/AFP/AP)
Updated: 2005-11-30 13:14


China, S.Korea to snub Japan at ASEAN meet

TOKYO - China and South Korea will likely refuse to hold a customary three-way meeting on the sidelines of an Asian summit in December in Kuala Lumpur amid tensions over wartime history, a newspaper says.

Relations between Japan and its neighbors have deteriorated further after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in October again visited the Yasukuni shrine to Japanese war dead, seen by China and South Korea as a symbol of militarism.

"At this point it would be difficult for a Chinese leader to shake hands with Prime Minister Koizumi and smile," the Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily quoted an unnamed Japanese government official as saying.

A foreign ministry official told AFP that "there is nothing officially decided on the trilateral meeting" and that Tokyo is "awaiting any proposal from China," which this year holds the presidency of the so-called ASEAN Plus Three meeting.

China and South Korea have held a trilateral meeting with Japan every year since 1999 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Plus Three summit.

The summit, which includes the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other powers, begins December 12 in Kuala Lumpur and will be followed by an inaugural East Asia Summit which excludes the United States.

China ruled out any meeting between President Hu Jintao and Koizumi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ( APEC) summit in November in South Korea.

But South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun met Koizumi, saying it was to show him courtesy as a guest.

He used the meeting to lash out at Koizumi for his fifth visit in office to Yasukuni shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including 14 top war criminals from World War II.

Koizumi says he visits the Shinto sanctuary to pay respect to the victims of past wars and pledge Japan will never wage war again, but his stance is met with skepticism by nations invaded by Japan in the 20th century.


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