ASIA: China and Japan remained at loggerheads yesterday in a diplomatic standoff over violent anti-Japanese protests in Chinese cities after a visit by Japan's foreign minister failed to mend fences with Beijing.
Diplomatic relations between the two Asian powerhouses are at their lowest level for decades and the row has raised tensions in the region and badly affected sentiment on the financial markets - the Nikkei 225 index of blue-chip Japanese stocks fell nearly 4 per cent to its lowest level since December 2004 on fears the dispute could escalate.
China flatly refused to apologise to Japan for damage done to diplomatic missions and Japanese businesses in three successive weekends of violent protest. Japan said the failure of the talks was "regrettable".
Attention now focused on a possible meeting between Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese president Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa Conference.
Both leaders will attend later this week in Indonesia, though Beijing is staying tight-lipped on whether they will meet.
They may choose to skirt the issue. Mr Koizumi said if the talks took place they "should not be an exchange of censure".
"The talks should be forward-looking ones that seek to boost friendly relations into the future," Mr Koizumi told reporters.
He reiterated his call on China to guarantee the safety of Japanese nationals in the country by preventing anti-Japanese demonstrations from turning violent.
Foreign minister Machimura Nobutaka said his visit to Beijing on Sunday had not been entirely fruitless but he conceded little progress was made.
At issue are two apologies. Beijing refuses to say sorry and pay compensation for sometimes violent anti-Japanese protests which have seen Tokyo's embassies and consulates in China damaged.
For its part, Beijing feels Tokyo has not done enough to apologise for atrocities carried out during Japan's occupation of China from 1931-1945.
Anti-Japanese sentiment is widespread, largely incited by coverage of a controversial school history textbook, which the Chinese say glosses over Japan's wartime actions.
There has also been outrage at Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and plans to exploit gas resources in disputed seas.
In reporting Mr Nobutaka's visit to Beijing on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency focused on Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing's insistence that Japan show more contrition.
Japan must take "concrete actions to face up to its history of invasion, and stop doing things that would harm the feeling of the Chinese people", Mr Li was quoted as saying.
The report on Mr Nobutaka's visit made no mention of the violent anti-Japanese demonstrations in many Chinese cities.
On Saturday, demonstrators in Shanghai, China's biggest city, smashed windows at the Japanese consulate, wrecked Japanese noodle restaurants and vandalised Nissan and Toyota cars. There was similar unrest in Beijing the previous weekend.
There was, however, a slightly more conciliatory tone to the report, which mentioned an expression of regret by the visiting Japanese minister for his country's wartime actions.
Shanghai municipal government spokeswoman Jiao Yang confirmed around 20,000 students and citizens took to the streets but did not mention any of the damage caused.
"The students and citizens spontaneously took to the street to demonstrate and protest," Ms Jiao said.
Popular dissent is not tolerated in China and there have been strong rumours that the protests have taken place with the tacit approval of Beijing authorities. But the scale of the protests seems to have taken the government by surprise.