LEAD: Lower house speaker Kono in China for talks with Hu

Asian Political News, Sept 27, 2004

BEIJING, Sept. 20 Kyodo

(EDS: CHANGING DATELINE, UPDATING)

Japan's House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono arrived Monday in China on a six-day trip for talks with Chinese leaders.

Kono met with Wu Bangguo, head of the National People's Congress in Beijing later Monday. He is scheduled to meet with President Hu Jintao and Vice President Zeng Qinghong on Wednesday.

Before returning to Japan on Saturday, he will also visit Guilin and Shanghai.

Before his departure, Kono told reporters he wants to use his trip to promote political relations between the two countries, which have been soured by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

Kono is expected to discuss with Chinese leaders not only bilateral matters but also global issues such as reform of the United Nations.