Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Japanese counterpart, Masahiko Komura, met Saturday in Beijing in what was called an "improved" atmosphere towards resolving their territorial dispute in the East China Sea, according to dpa. A Japanese spokesman said after the talks that Japan saw an "improved" atmosphere between the two countries, with the hope for a resolution of the differences before the upcoming visit to China by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukoda. "The atmosphere to discuss the matter has imporved," the spokesman said regarding the dispute, at the core of which are oil and gas reserves in the East China Sea. Both sides aimed to intensify their talks over the agreed-on joint use of the natural resources. "It is a very delicate issue," the spokesman said. But after eleven rounds of talks which so far had failed to provide a solution, there was a better technical and legal understanding of the problem. Fukoda is to visit China at the end of this year or in early 2008. Regarding the hope for a solution to the territorial dispute before then, the Japanese spokesman said "we did not use it as a precondition for the visit of the prime minister. "It is important to find some concrete way to make progress," the spokesman said. At Saturday's meeting the two countries signed an agreement in which Japan is to provide China a credit worth some 400 million dollars to support environmental projects. Since 1979, Japan has provided development assistance to China totalling some 30 billion dollars worth of credits. The talks on Saturday were the largest-ever ministerial-level meetings since China and Japan established diplomatic ties 35 years ago. Six members of the Japanese cabinet travelled from Tokyo for the meeting. It was the first such meeting since the China and Japan agreed two months ago to conduct regular economic discussions. Political observers in Beijing said Saturday's meeting underscored the further improvement in ties which had hit virtual rock-bottom in 2006 under previous Japanese premier Junichiro Koizumi. China had been angered by his visits to the Yasukuni war memorial where a number of convicted war criminals who were responsible for atrocities by Japanese forces occupying China during World War II.
