China state media warn Japan's new leader on troubled ties

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's official news agency greeted the election of a new Japanese prime minister on Monday with a warning, not a welcome, telling Yoshihiko Noda that it is up to his government to mend a troubled relationship.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry congratulated Noda on becoming head of Japan's ruling Democratic Party, opening the way for his appointment as the nation's sixth prime minister in five years.

Still, a commentary from China's state-run Xinhua news agency set a brusker tone.

China and Japan are Asia's two biggest economies, but their deepening trade interdependence has been offset by a sea dispute, Japanese unease about China's naval buildup, and deep-seated Chinese bitterness over Japan's military occupation before and during the Second World War.

In a faxed comment on Japanese Finance Minister Noda's victory, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Beijing wants to work with Tokyo to "strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and promote the healthy and stable advance of strategic, mutually-beneficial Sino-Japanese relations."

But Noda should also ensure that Japan respects China's "core interests," said an English-language commentary issued by Xinhua, singling out as a key concern disputed islands in the East China Sea.

"Tokyo has managed its relationship with Beijing without due respect for China's core interests and legitimate demands for development," said the Xinhua commentary.

"The new Japanese government needs to start to appreciate the undisputed fact that a deeply troubled China-Japan relationship and dire mistrust would by no means serve the interests of either side," said Xinhua.

"Furthermore, Japan needs to show enough respect for China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially when it comes to matters concerning Diaoyu islands" -- the group of islets in the East China Sea that Japan also claims as the Senkaku islands.

In September 2010, Japan held a Chinese trawler captain after his boat collided with Japanese coast guard ships near the disputed islands. Beijing cancelled diplomatic meetings in protest at Japan's detention of the captain, which became a focus for broader ire over the sea dispute.

Noda has to be confirmed as prime minister by parliament on Tuesday, and will be the third premier since his ruling Democratic Party of Japan won power in 2009, promising change and a firmer relationship with China.

But since then, Sino-Japanese ties have been strained, and Noda's past positions could prompt fresh wariness in China.

Noda, 54, has recently repeated that Japanese wartime leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal after Japan's defeat in World War Two were not "war criminals" under domestic law. He has also said China's rapid military buildup and expanding naval activities pose a serious regional risk.

China has criticised high-profile visits by Japanese leaders in the past to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead. Among those honoured are war criminals convicted by an Allied tribunal after World War Two.

In 2005, then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the shrine fuelled anger in China that broke out in occasionally violent anti-Japan protests.

Noda was not asked about Yasukuni at a news conference after his victory on Monday, and before the election he declined to say what he would do if he became prime minister.

"Noda's cabinet has to carefully craft and implement a proper policy in treating Japan's war past to soothe the resentment among the Chinese public towards Japan," said Xinhua.

"Additionally, Japan should acknowledge China's legitimate requirement for military modernisation," it added.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Yoko Nishikawa)