Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday characterized as "beyond comprehension" Chinese President Hu Jintao's ruling out a summit with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi unless he stops visiting Yasukuni Shrine.
"It sounds like the Japanese government is to be blamed for all the various difficult issues between Japan and China, but I wonder if that is really the case," Aso told a news conference after the morning's Cabinet meeting, commenting on Hu's remark Friday to a delegation of Japanese lawmakers in Beijing.
Aso said both sides need to meet to resolve the issue.
At a meeting with the delegation, which included former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, Hu blamed Koizumi's visits to the shrine for souring bilateral ties and said China would hold a summit with Japan when the visits stop.
China maintains that Koizumi's Yasukuni visits show Japan is not truly repentant over its wartime atrocities.
Koizumi, who has refused to stop visiting the shrine, has said "one difference in opinion" should not be the reason to halt top-level political dialogue altogether.
Later Tuesday, Aso told the House of Councilors committee on foreign and defense affairs that he believes the economic rivalry between Japan and China will intensify.