Japan, China foreign ministers discuss gas projects, NKorea

The foreign ministers of Japan and China were to meet Sunday to discuss joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea and North Korea's abductions of Japanese nationals, an official said. The talks between Japan's Masahiko Komura and China's Yang Jiechi come amid rapidly warming relations between the two Asian economic giants after decades of mistrust due in part to the legacy of Japanese imperialism. In June, the two sides agreed to joint develop the gas fields in an area near a group of islands that remain the focus of a bitter dispute.