Diaoyu row 'will not derail ties'

China and Japan agreed over the weekend that their conflicting claims over the Diaoyu Islands should not undermine overall bilateral relations.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his visiting Japanese counterpart Hirofumi Nakasone came to this agreement on Saturday.

"The two foreign ministers shared the view that the two sides' differences on this matter should not undermine the overall relationship between the two countries," Kazuo Kodama, spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Ministry, told media yesterday before Nakasone left Beijing.