VIENTIANE Nov 30: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao side stepped Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's invitation on Tuesday to visit Japan, a sign ties between Asia's major powers remain bedevilled by a spat rooted in Japan's wartime history

In a meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Lao capital, Mr Wen asked Mr Koizumi to "appropriately handle" the issue of his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honoured along with Japan's nearly 2.5 million war dead, a Japanese government spokesman said.

Mr Koizumi's invitation to Mr Wen, the first since he took over as premier from Zhu Rongji in March last year, signalled the atmosphere between Asia's two major powers was improving, the spokesman, Akira Chiba, told reporters. -Reuters