JAPAN: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japan's Prime Minister Shizo Abe agree at talks in Tokyo to build a new relationship and put rancour over their countries' wartime past behind them

With handshakes, smiles and ceremony befitting two Asian powers, Chinese and Japanese leaders met for talks on Wednesday (April 11) aimed at strengthening a fragile rapprochement and setting aside rancour over their wartime past. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's three-day visit -- the first by a Chinese leader since 2000 -- will be punctuated by agreements, speeches and photo opportunities to showcase a thaw that began with a visit to Beijing by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in October. Sino-Japanese ties cooled under Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who made annual visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni war shrine, seen in Asia as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Efforts to end North Korea's nuclear arms programme are certain to be on the agenda during Wen's visit. The two leaders unveiled agreements on cooperation in energy and environmental protection, including a plan to build joint nuclear power generation capacity. China, including Hong Kong, is already Japan's biggest trade partner, ahead of the United States, with two-way trade totalling nearly 29 trillion yen (240 billion U.S. dollars) last year. "On top of today's outcome, we should further strive to build a future-oriented, stable bilateral relationship," Abe said during a banquet at his official residence. Wen said: "Between Prime Minister Abe and myself, we were able to have an effective, honest and substantial discussion. This gives me confidence over my visit to Japan this time." In a symbolic gesture, the two countries signed an agreement allowing Japan to resume exports of rice to China, halted since 2003 when Beijing revised quarantine guidelines. Analysts in Japan and China say there is no certainty that Abe, under pressure from his core conservative supporters, can heal ties fraught by history and present rivalry. China says Japan is too supportive of Taiwan, a Japanese colony for 50 years up to 1945 and now a self-governing island that Beijing wants to accept reunification with the mainland. In the East China Sea, an area with potentially lucrative gas and oil reserves, Beijing and Tokyo are at loggerheads over the boundary between their exclusive economic zones. The two East Asian powers are also suspicious of each other's military ambitions and regional policies.

ITN Source | April 13, 2007

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