Yachi to visit Russia, China Jan. 22-27 for subcabinet-level talks

TOKYO, Jan. 19 Kyodo

Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi will make a six-day visit to Russia and China from next Monday to discuss with his counterparts there bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual concern, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday.

In Russia, Yachi will meet Andrei Denisov, first deputy foreign minister, and in China, Dai Bingguo, deputy foreign minister.

During Yachi's visit to Russia from Monday to Wednesday, the two nations are expected to discuss their row over Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said earlier this week.

Japan and Russia have long been at loggerheads over the sovereignty of Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils. The dispute has prevented the two sides from concluding a postwar peace treaty.

It will be the first time Tokyo and Moscow will hold their strategic dialogue.

Yachi will travel on to China from Thursday to Saturday to meet Dai and hold the seventh round of so-called ''comprehensive policy dialogue,'' according to Aso.

A bilateral dispute over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea is likely to be a major topic during Yachi's discussion with Dai, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said that Yachi is also likely to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Hu Jintao have agreed in previous talks to aim for an early resolution of the East China Sea row with an eye on joint development.

Yachi and the Chinese officials are also set to lay the groundwork for Hu's visit to Japan, according to the official.

Hu was quoted by a Japanese lawmaker last week as saying he has accepted Japan's invitation to visit and will make the trip at a ''time convenient for both sides,'' indicating the visit may be as early as in June.

The dispute over gas exploration rights stems from unsettled demarcation in the East China Sea where Japan's and China's economic waters overlap.

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