BEIJING — Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met Saturday on the sidelines of a trade conference in Indonesia in a bid to stem the mounting tension between their countries.
Both leaders expressed hope for improved ties during their one-hour meeting at the end of a two-day summit of Asian and African nations in Jakarta. But Hu urged Japan to face its history squarely.
"At the moment Sino-Japanese relations face a difficult situation. Such a difficult situation is not one we want to see," Hu said in a statement after the closed-door meeting, adding that continued strains "would be detrimental to China and Japan and would affect stability and development in Asia."
Relations between the Asian neighbors have deteriorated to their lowest level since Beijing and Tokyo resumed diplomatic contacts in 1972. Street demonstrations have flared across China, leading to attacks on the Japanese Embassy and consulates, and vandalism against Japanese cars and businesses.
Chinese outrage followed Tokyo's announced bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and its approval of a junior high school textbook that critics say glosses over Japan's brutal wartime occupation of China and other nations in East Asia.
Before Saturday's meeting, China refused to publicly confirm its willingness to attend the session, despite Japan's request for nearly a week that the leaders talk and clear the air.
Japan sent Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on an emergency fence-mending mission to Beijing last week during which he sought an apology and compensation for protest-related damage. In doing so, Japan gave the Chinese a forum to accuse it of being unwilling to apologize for its own actions or provide compensation. After putting his prestige on the line, Machimura was sent packing with nothing to show for his trip.
Many Chinese also questioned Koizumi's expression of "deep remorse" during a speech Friday in Indonesia, noting that it occurred on the day about 80 lawmakers visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where several war criminals are memorialized.
The streets of Beijing and Shanghai were quiet Saturday after three weekends of anti-Japan protests. Paramilitary troops in the two cities far outnumbered civilians around the Japanese Embassy, official residence and consulate. Beijing has mounted a campaign to curb the protests amid what analysts say are the Communist Party's fears that Chinese demonstrators could turn their attention to the country's domestic problems, spurring instability.
