LEAD: Machimura hopes for Japan-China gas dispute solution before Hu's visit

TOKYO, April 15 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING MORE INFO)

Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura expressed hope Tuesday that the dispute between Japan and China over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea will be resolved before Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Japan planned for early May.

Machimura also said that Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is likely to mention to Hu that China needs to step up efforts to resolve the unrest involving Tibet peacefully and that it is desirable for the two leaders to agree on a safety mechanism for Chinese food imports to Japan.

''It may be possible that (working-level) discussions will continue until the last minute until President Hu Jintao's visit,'' top government spokesman Machimura said at a press conference concerning the longstanding bilateral row over gas exploration rights.

''Considering that the negotiations for this issue are difficult, we recognize that we are in the process of making last-ditch efforts in the hope that it will be resolved before President Hu Jintao's visit to Japan if at all possible,'' he said.

The top Japanese spokesman said it is regrettable that the two countries have not been able to resolve the matter despite an agreement in the spring of last year by then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that the two governments should compile a joint resource development plan by the fall.

Machimura also suggested that the two countries may have to work out the wording of a joint document to be issued by Fukuda and Hu until the last minute depending on how things develop with the negotiations.

Fukuda and Hu agreed in December in Beijing to seek an early resolution of the dispute through continued negotiations, but the two sides apparently could not narrow their differences in vice foreign ministerial talks in the Chinese capital Monday and Tuesday, according to a Japanese diplomatic source.

The two countries have agreed to jointly develop the disputed area where economic waters claimed by Japan and China overlap, but they remain apart on defining the areas in which to do so.

On Tibet, Machimura said, ''It's important for the issue to be resolved through peaceful dialogue, and China must exert more efforts toward the success of the Olympics which everyone is wishing for, so I suppose...Prime Minister Fukuda will talk about this (with Hu).''

Fukuda and other Japanese officials have repeatedly called for a peaceful resolution of China's crackdown last month on Tibetans.

Concerning the food poisoning incidents in Japan involving tainted Chinese-made frozen meat dumplings, Machimura noted that the police in the two countries investigating the case have not yet reached a common recognition of the circumstances.

''It appears the investigations are rather difficult, but I believe it's important to create a safety mechanism for Chinese-made food imports after achieving common understanding among the police on both sides and hope that such an agreement can be made at the summit level,'' Machimura said.

Japanese and Chinese investigators have remained at odds over how the dumplings were contaminated with pesticide which caused 10 people in Japan to fall ill.

COPYRIGHT 2008 Kyodo News International, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning