Aso set to visit China in late Oct., eyeing 1st talks with Hu, Wen+

TOKYO, Oct. 5 Kyodo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is set to visit China in late October to attend a meeting of Asian and European leaders and is also planning to hold talks with Chinese leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao during the trip, governmentsources said Saturday.

Japan and China are engaged in the final stage of talks to set up these events,
the sources said, following a request for Aso to visit China made by Chinese
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi during a meeting with his Japanese counterpart
Hirofumi Nakasone in New York on the sideline of the United Nations assembly.
While the summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has been scheduled for Oct.
24-25, some within the Japanese government were concerned Aso may not be able
to make it because he may call a general election soon and campaigning for the
election could start just before the summit.
But Aso, who has the power to call an election, has indicated he will first
compile measures to fight the impending economic slowdown rather than call an
election. This stance has also paved the way for scheduling his visit to China,
the sources said.
Aso is also planning to attend a ceremony to commemorate the 30th anniversary
of the conclusion of the treaty of peace and friendship between Japan and
China, an event timed to be held around the same time, the sources said.
A trip to China for talks with leaders there may help Aso's approval rating as
it would show he is making active foreign policy moves following his trip to
New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly meeting with Foreign Minister
Nakasone immediately after he took power on Sept. 24.
Aso was foreign minister from October 2005 till August 2007 in the Cabinet of
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who was blamed for aggravating Japan's
relations with China through his repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which
China sees as a symbol of Japan's militarist past.
Aso made no visits to China during his stint as foreign minister.
At the upcoming talks, Aso will likely express Japan's aim of solidifying
bilateral relations and confirm cooperation on such issues as the
denuclearization of North Korea and the abduction of Japanese nationals by the
North, as well as working out measures to fight climate change.
Aso may also explore with the Chinese leaders ways to move forward talks on
concluding a treaty over the gas field project in a disputed area in the East
China Sea, an arrangement that the two countries earlier agreed on.
His visit may also include consultations on tainted Chinese milk and on-going
investigations in China into the case of tainted dumplings that made several
consumers in Japan ill.
Aso may also seek Chinese cooperation in its drive to revamp the U.N. Security
Council, including pushing Japan's bid to join the council as a permanent
member.
At the ASEM summit, leaders are expected to discuss a broad range of issues
including nuclear nonproliferation, climate change and ways to address the
financial crisis originating in the United States.
Japan-China relations started picking up after Shinzo Abe took over from
Koizumi as prime minister in September 2006 and talks with Chinese Premier Wen
the following month.
Yasuo Fukuda, Aso's predecessor, visited China twice after taking the helm of
the government in September last year.
Hu visited Japan in May this year, the first Chinese president to visit Japan
in 10 years.