Chinese President Hu Jintao has decided to pull out of a meeting Friday in Beijing with representatives of seven bilateral friendship groups from Japan, according to sources.
China told the seven groups that Hu is unhappy with Japan's plan to name uninhabited isles near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, the sources said Friday.
Jia Qinglin, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Beijing's fourth most senior leader, will meet the groups on Hu's behalf, the sources said.