Japan to meet with Chinese president

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Japan said this morning that its Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi would meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao in an effort to settle an ongoing dispute over its handling of its wartime atrocities.

The meeting would take place along the sidelines of a summit for Asian and African leaders in Jakarta this evening.

"The prime minister said they will talk about friendship and cooperation, which are the key to prosperity of the region," said Akira Chiba, a spokesman for Koizumi's delegation. "We were very eager to meet each other and we are happy that it's happening.

There was no immediate response from China.

Relations between the two Asian powers have plunged to a three-decade low, with massive anti-Japanese protests erupting in several Chinese cities in recent weeks over Tokyo's handling of its wartime atrocities and its bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

At the start of the summit Friday, Koizumi apologized for his country's World War II aggression in an apparent bid to defuse tensions with China, but Beijing urged Tokyo to back its words with action.