BEIJING, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Japanese and Chinese officials meeting in Beijing Sunday agreed to continue efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
The six-nation talks that are to include North Korea, Japan and China at the urging of the United States, as well as Russia and South Korea, are set to begin toward the end of the month, Kyodo news service reported.
The China-Japan link was confirmed in a meeting of Yasuo Fukuda, the closest Cabinet member to the Japan prime minister, and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Wen took the opportunity to criticize Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to a war-related shrine in Tokyo which China has called inappropriate considering the history of their relations.
The Chinese premier did say he would welcome Koizumi in a visit, although plans for such a visit have been stalled by China's objection to the Yakukuni Shrine visits.
