ASIA AND ASEM

CHINA-JAPAN ROW CLOUDS EUROPE, ASIA LEADERS' EVENT

AFP, October 4, 2010

BRUSSELS — European and Asian leaders begin three days of talks Monday centred on trade, IMF reform and climate change but under the cloud of a territorial spat between Japan and China.

Leaders will meet at the royal palace in Brussels for the 48-member Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) for two days, followed by separate European Union summits with South Korea and China on Wednesday.

The Japan-China row could steal the show, however, as observers watch whether Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan meet face-to-face to ease tensions over a maritime incident near disputed islands.

The diplomatic standoff was sparked by Japan's arrest on September 8 of a Chinese trawler captain near the islands in the East China Sea.

Japan has released the captain, but tensions remain with Beijing freezing high-level talks.

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