In overture to China, Japan PM may skip visit to war dead shrine

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gestures during a news conference at a hotel in Makati city, metro Manila July 27, 2013. REUTERS/Al Falcon

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely skip visiting a shrine for war dead on a traditional remembrance day this month, a move he hopes will open the door to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and mend badly frayed ties.

Whether Xi, faced with huge domestic challenges, is willing or able to risk responding to the overture remains in doubt. But relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies have now been hostile for months, with a row over disputed islands adding to wartime bitterness and a regional rivalry.