China - China says it held talks with Japan on islands row

BEIJING: China said it finished another round of meetings with Japan Monday about a dispute over East China Sea islands that has hurt bilateral trade and deepened tensions.

Both sides have publicly refused to back down on their respective claims to the Japan-controlled islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Tokyo nationalised the islands in September, sparking street protests in Chinese cities. China has also cancelled official events in response to the move.

Chinese and Japanese officials overseeing Asian affairs met on Sunday and Monday to prepare for more talks between their deputy foreign ministers which began in September, said the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

He did not say where the meeting took place.

The Chinese representative "said that China is willing to solve the dispute with negotiation but China would never cede even half a step for sovereignty issues", according to Hong.

He reiterated China's stance that Japan "admit mistakes" and "make concrete efforts" to resolve the situation.

National pride as well as potential mineral reserves are at stake in the decades-old dispute, which has hit the huge trade relationship between the world's second and third largest economies.

The row escalated in September after Japan's central government purchased some of the islands to prevent Tokyo's nationalist governor from doing so, prompting large-scale and occasionally violent demonstrations across China.

Since September, Chinese vessels have moved in and out of what Japan says is its sovereign territory, most recently for three consecutive days ending Sunday.

- AFP/jc

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