Agence France Presse

Beijing, May 15:

China and Japan have failed to reach an agreement on compensation for Japanese property damaged during three weekends of riots on the mainland, officials and media said today.

The Japanese delegation, headed by Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi, met Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing on final of two days of “strategic dialogue” yesterday, China’s foreign ministry said .

“I cannot comment about the contents of the meeting, but the issue (of compensation) has yet to be solved,” Yachi said, according to Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

Earlier reports suggested the talks would likely deal with a Chinese offer to pay “consolation money” for damage caused by anti-Japanese protests earlier this spring. The anti-Japan demonstrations came after the Japanese education ministry approved a history textbook written by avowed nationalists who believe Tokyo is too apologetic for its past.

Yachi was quoted in Nihon Keizai Shimbun as saying China had discussed the history issue “in detail”.

While the foreign ministry in Beijing provided no details on what the delegates had talked about, it did say they would meet again. “The two sides believed dialogue was positive and helpful and agreed that the dialogue process should be carried on,” the ministry statement said.

Bilateral relations have been strained over Japan’s ambition to get a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, seen as reflecting its wish to be considered a major power in the region and the world.

China is also furious at Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s insistence at visiting the Yasukuni shrine, which honours Japanese war dead including convicted war criminals.

Published remarks by Zhou Yihuang, an oft-quoted expert on Sino-Japanese relations with ties to China’s foreign ministry, may reflect an emerging softening on the Chinese position. “We need talks instead of confrontation,” Zhou said according to the China Daily newspaper, adding Sino-Japanese relations would move forward despite the disputes because of the strong and close bilateral economic ties.

But “Tokyo also needs to face up its wartime past in order to further develop ties with Beijing,” he said.