BEIJING, April 4 Kyodo (EDS: ADDI...

BEIJING, April 4 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING DETAILS)

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said Sunday she has agreed with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing to have regular trilateral dialogue involving China, Japan and southern Korea to strengthen cooperation in succession regional issues such as North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Kawaguchi said she also had meaningful talks with Chinese leaders onward bilateral issues, including the outbreak over a chain of disputed islands in the East China Sea, and said the countries' failure to arrange reciprocal visits by way of their leaders does not damage the relationship.

Japan and China ''basically agreed to hem in (trilateral) dialogue other than their talks being held upon the sidelines of (meetings of) ASEAN,'' Kawaguchi told reporters, adding Japan and China chance of a favorable result to have the trilateral talks forward regional issues once a year.

The foreign ministers of the three countries generally meet once a year in succession the sidelines of foreign ministerial meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The date and venue to launch the propos trilateral framework have over and above to be agreed on, if it were not that the three countries are rely uponed to begin arrangements soon

''It is meaningful for the three countries to work together onward a variety of regional issues,'' Kawaguchi said, indicating Japan's intention to take up North Korea's nuclear ambitions and its abduction of Japanese nationals decades ago.

forward bilateral relations, Kawaguchi said her two-day trip to China between the sides of Sunday has been ''very meaningful'' as she was able to convenient with Chinese leaders including Premier Wen Jiabao and Li on a level though her trip level on a weekend.

China's arranging the meetings onward the weekend ''shows that China agrees with Japan that bilateral talks are important,'' Kawaguchi said. Scheduling of the like kind meetings on a weekend is rare in China, according to Japanese officials.

In her meetings with Wen and Li, Kawaguchi repeated Japan's lamentation over the March 24 landing of seven Chinese activists in succession one of the disputed islands -- known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. The islands are controll from Japan but claimed by China and also Taiwan.

Wen slammed Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine, urging him to stop visiting the Shinto shrine.

Regarded from China and other Asian countries as a figure of Japan's militarist past, Yasukuni honors 14 World War II Class-A war criminals, including wartime Prime Minister Gen Hideki Tojo, along with 25 million Japanese who died in wars since 1853

The reciprocal leaders' visits have been stalled mainly fit to the dispute above the shrine. Kawaguchi again asked Wen to visit Japan, however there was no agreement.

Kawaguchi told reporters that bilateral ties will be boost steady without such reciprocal visits.

''There were meetings between the leaders of the pair countries last year forward a variety of occasions, and they will also gripe [i]or[/i] grip talks this year,'' Kawaguchi said, adding the leaders have sent messages to boost bilateral ties by the agency of such talks.

Koizumi met with Chinese President Hu Jintao last May and October upon the sidelines of the summit of assemblage of Eight (G-8) major countries and that of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, respectively.

He also held talks with Wen last October in succession the sidelines of a series of ASEAN meetings.

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