World Gossip News

China sees no reason to hold talks with Japan over their dispute about ownership of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea. Relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies have been strained for months, largely because of the spat over the islands. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is keen to improve ties and has called for high-level dialogue with China, though he has rejected any conditions on talks and China has shown no inclination to even want talks. Aircraft and ships from both countries have played a cat-and-mouse game near the islands for months, ratcheting up tension. China reacted with fury this month after Abe sent an offering to a shrine for war dead, which also honors war criminals, while cabinet members visited it in person. China suffered under Japanese rule, with parts of the country occupied from the 1930s. Japanese leaders have apologized in the past but many in China doubt their sincerity, partly because of contradictory remarks by politicians.