China vice PM cancels Tokyo meeting with Koizumi

TOKYO - A meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and visiting Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi set for Monday has been cancelled due to a request from the Chinese government, a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said.

"It was cancelled. They (the Chinese side) said Wu Yi had a sudden internal commitment and is leaving this afternoon," said Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Akira Chiba.

"The Chinese side made it very specific that it has nothing to do with Yasukuni," he said, referring to Koizumi's annual visits to a Tokyo shrine for war dead seen by Beijing as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

- REUTERS