This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

China and Japan have held a "tense" hour-long meeting over a group of contested islands, the Japanese foreign minister said, but showed no sign of shifting their stances.

The long-running territorial dispute has escalated dramatically in recent weeks, with violent anti-Japanese protests in China over the uninhabited islets, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

Koichiro Gemba urged Beijing to exercise restraint when he met his counterpart, Yang Jieshi, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly on Tuesday, according to Japan's Kyodo news agency.

Xinhua, China's state news agency, said Yang reiterated that the East China Sea islands had been the country's "sacred territory since ancient times".

The Japanese chief cabinet secretary, Osamu Fujimura, told a news conference in Tokyo that talks were needed through various channels, adding: "There is no magic bullet in foreign diplomacy."

The countries' deputy foreign ministers had also held talks in Beijing on Monday. China's foreign ministry spokesman said they discussed issues "frankly and deeply".

Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, north Asia director for the International Crisis Group, welcomed the discussions as a positive step.

"It's a good sign that they're talking, but it's difficult to see how either one is going to be able to substantially walk back their positions," she said.

"One hopes they will be able to exercise the leadership and vision necessary, but there are domestic challenges in both countries which make it very difficult for the leaderships to be seen as weak on this issue. The status quo was broken by Japan's purchase of the islands and China's announcement of the baseline."

China is preparing for the handover of power to a new generation of leaders, while in Japan the unpopular ruling party will soon face an election.

Japan's purchase of the islands came after the nationalist governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, said the city would buy them. The central government feared that would spark greater conflict.

The islands are surrounded by fisheries and potentially valuable energy resources, but the dispute is also fuelled by long-running historical tensions over Japan's brutal occupation of China in the 1930s and 1940s, as well as Japanese anxieties over China's growing might.

Analysts say neither side wants the matter to escalate – particularly given the risk of further damage to crucial economic ties.

But there are concerns that an unintended collision or a misjudgment in a standoff between vessels from the two countries in the waters around the islands might spark a more serious clash.

Reuters reported that Japanese carmakers Toyota, Nissan and Suzuki are already cutting back on production in China after the mass protests closed dealerships and dimmed sales prospects. Xinhua said over 52,000 seat reservations have been cancelled on flights between the two countries between September and November, citing All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines.

On Monday, the Japanese coastguard used water cannon to disperse dozens of fishing boats from Taiwan – which also claims the islands – from disputed waters.

A spokesman for Beijing's state council Taiwan affairs office said that Chinese vessels would be ready to offer help to both Taiwanese and mainland vessels fishing around the islands, Xinhua reported on Wednesday.

China is involved in several territorial disputes. Xinhua announced that officials plan a 10-fold increase in the maximum punishment for failures to map it in full. Current regulations stipulate a fine of up to 10,000 yuan for those who fail to include the country's entire territory, but the new law would increase the maximum penalty to 100,000 yuan.