China sees Japan ties steady post-Fukuda, say experts
02 Sep 2008 03:03:02 GMT Source: Reuters
By Chris Buckley BEIJING, Sept 2 (Reuters) - China and Japan will stay focused on improving long-strained ties after the departure of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, even if conservative Taro Aso succeeds him, Chinese experts said on Tuesday. Beijing had no official response to Fukuda's resignation announced on Monday night, but Chinese state media praised his efforts to ease tensions between the two neighbouring Asian powers. Experts close to Beijing policy-makers said Fukuda was unusually committed to better ties, but under his likely successors relations were unlikely to trigger the bitter quarrels over wartime history, territory and influence of recent years. "The general trend of improving relations will continue no matter who takes over, because the shared interests of both countries have become too important for any leader to ignore," said Qin Yaqing, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University who has advised officials on policy towards Tokyo. "There are still many specific problems between the two sides. Fukuda's successor may not have the same ideas about solving them, but I think the focus will remain on solving them." China replaced the United States as Japan's top trade partner in 2007, with two-way trade totalling $236.6 billion. The favourite to succeed Fukuda is Aso, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party official and former foreign minister who has been wary of China and wants Japan to wield more regional clout. But Aso has said he will not visit the Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial to Japan's war dead seen by many in Asia as a symbol of the country's past military aggression. Japan invaded and occupied parts of China from 1931-45. Aso would be a less predictable counterpart, but probably avoid the friction that marred relations during the 2001-2006 tenure of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who repeatedly visited Yasukuni, said Chinese experts. "If Taro Aso takes office, he may make different choices on specific government ways, but there won't be too many changes in considering relations with China," Gao Hong, a Japan expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the website of the People's Daily (www.people.com.cn). Sino-Japanese ties warmed in the past two years after the chill under Koizumi, but both countries harbour widespread public distrust about the other. "There's unlikely to be a reversal in China-Japan relations," Liu Jiangyong, an expert on Japan at Tsinghua University in Beijing, told the Beijing Youth daily. "But the foundation of the relationship remains quite fragile." Fukuda met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Tokyo in May in high-profile talks to cement warming ties. The two sides in June announced an initial agreement on ending friction over gas beds under the East China Sea. (Editing by Nick Macfie and David Fox) (chris.buckley@reuters.com; +86-13501014479)
A staff of a local epidemic prevention bureau disinfects the ruins of damaged houses at the earthquake-hit area in Lixi town of Huili County, Sichuan province September 1, 2008. An earthquake ...
