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EU chief urges Japan to mend ties with China, S. Korea+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)TOKYO, April 21_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: TO BE LED) European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Friday indirectly urged Japan to mend soured ties with China and South Korea, while calling for Tokyo to remove barriers for foreign direct investment. "We (also) want to see relations between countries of the East Asian region improve. Differences on territorial and other matters should be settled peacefully through dialogue and diplomacy," Barroso said in a speech in Tokyo as he kicked off a five-day visit to Japan through Tuesday. Barroso made the request prior to a summit meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Monday, where European Union and Japanese leaders are likely to focus on other East Asian affairs, such as the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program, along with Iran's nuclear crisis and reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan. It also mirrored the EU's concern over Japan's ongoing territorial dispute with South Korea and Koizumi's visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo that have angered China and South Korea. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] |