Associated Press

Tokyo, May 11:

After initially dismissing requests to pay for damage to Japan’s Embassy and consulates from recent anti-Japanese riots, China has quietly reversed course and promised to restore the buildings, a Japanese official said today.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing assured Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa in Beijing that the damaged buildings would be returned to their former condition, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda. “China is saying that it will repair (the damage), and I think it’s a big step forward,” Hosoda said.