Japan has complained after China re-wrote a document jointly issued by both countries after a top-level meeting of ministers.

China removed sections from the Chinese language version of the communique.

The chief cabinet spokesman in Tokyo said he was "very surprised" and called on Beijing to remedy the situation.

Among the passages deleted was one in which Japan expressed hope that China would accelerate efforts to revalue its currency, the yuan.

Relations between Japan and China are supposed to be improving, and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is hoping to make his first visit China in the next few weeks.

Rapprochement

A few days ago, six Japanese cabinet ministers met their Chinese counterparts in Beijing to discuss economic issues.

The unusual get-together was hailed as a sign that things were getting better, and the two sides agreed a joint statement.

Tokyo released the document in Japanese, while China published the Chinese language version two days later.

That was when Japanese officials noticed that some passages had been deleted.

Japanese hopes for the appreciation of the Chinese currency were no longer there, and a phrase describing the importance of China's participation in the energy charter treaty - which stipulates international rules on matters such as trade in energy - had also been deleted.

Tokyo's chief cabinet secretary described the deletion as "unthinkable" - unusually strong language.

But then again it is unusual for a government to rework a joint document unilaterally after its contents have been agreed, and not inform the other party.

Japan is demanding that China address the issue. The two countries' leaders are trying to work more closely, and diplomatic spats like this do not help.

(BBC)

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