China, Japan ministers meet over islands crisis

(Vatican Radio) The foreign ministers of China and Japan have held talks to try to end a crisis in relations, over a string of the tiny, uninhabited Senkaku islands. A backlash has seen protests in China, and now there are signs that Chinese consumers are boycotting some Japanese goods.

In Japan, some observers are accusing the Tokyo government of a miscalculation.

The Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. The atmosphere was "severe,"
said Japan's minister, Koichiro Gemba, who tried to reassure his Chinese counterpart Tokyo will behave with restraint; reports here in Japan say the military has been ordered to stay out of the dispute for now.

But economic battle lines over the Senkaku Islands are drawn. Japanese carmakers Toyota and Nissan reporting such a drop in demand in China they're halting production this week at several plants there.

And former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe today told broadcaster NHK a go-slow by Chinese customs will have a cost for both economies. “They import our products, we thought it was an untouchable balance,” he said. “We were never supposed to get into a situation like this.”

One newspaper here today said Japan's government tried to predict
China's likely reaction to its purchase of disputed islands. But the Asahi Shimbun said Japan banked wrongly on China, which lashed out over what it considers a territorial injustice.

Alastair Wanklyn is in Tokyo. You can listen to his report: