TOKYO, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Japan and China will not hold bilateral talks at an upcoming ASEAN meeting, a Japanese official says, in a sign of continuing tensions between the two.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Vientiane, Laos next week, the South China Morning Post reported Friday.
They are scheduled to take part in three-way talks with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Monday, but will not meet separately, the official said.
The issue of Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni Shrine to honor Japan's war dead is the reason cited by China for keeping its distance from Japan. Several war criminals are buried at the shrine, and Chinese leaders have repeatedly called for a stop to the visits.
Chinese President Hu Jintao reportedly stressed the issue in a meeting with Koizumi last Sunday in Santiago, Chile.
A survey of 3,000 Chinese earlier this year conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences found that over half felt unfriendly toward Japan, resenting the country's lack of remorse over its invasion of China. It was a 10 percent increase over a similar survey in 2002.
Only 6.3 percent said they had no hard feelings toward Japan, or liked the country.
