Associated Press

Tokyo, May 23:

China abruptly cancelled a meeting between Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi scheduled for today, ruffling feathers in Tokyo as the two countries are trying to mend their troubled relations. China’s Foreign Ministry said Wu had to cut short her trip to Tokyo and return to Beijing today for urgent but unspecified matters at home. Japanese officials said they had no further details and expected a full explanation. Wu and Koizumi had been scheduled to meet late this afternoon, and the Japanese leader seemed surprised by the sudden change in plans. “It was their (China’s) request to hold a meeting, and I thought it would have been a good opportunity,” Koizumi told reporters. “I don’t understand why they’re cancelling it now.” Wu’s visit was to be part of a string of official contacts between Tokyo and Beijing aimed at repairing tense relations.

After Wu’s departure, the Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement saying she had to “return home to handle important and urgent official business.” It did not elaborate. A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity that senior diplomats expected Beijing to show them the “courtesy” of a full explanation, but Japanese media said Tokyo wouldn’t formally request one. Shinzo Abe, a top official of Koizumi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, said he didn’t think the cancellation would be seen as a major snub because Wu is not Koizumi’s counterpart. “But I’m afraid many Japanese may find it rather impolite,” he said. Japanese officials insisted they didn’t think the cancellation was due

to something Tokyo had done. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki said it was unlikely the pullout was connected to Koizumi’s recent justifications for his visit to a Tokyo war shrine — visits which have been fiercely criticised by China. Koizumi also rejected the idea that the cancellation was Tokyo’s fault.