The two leaders agreed to build "strategic, mutually beneficial relations" in economic, energy, environment and other areas. After their talks, they issued a joint press statement pledging to boost cooperation, promote high-level economic, political and defense dialogue and to continue to seek denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Putting a smiling face on the Chinese leader's visit, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki, Japan's top government spokesman, declared after the Abe-Wen talks, "We're not aware of any remaining ice."
To be sure, as an array of cooperation agreements reached this week show, Wen's visit seems to have made the recent trend of warming bilateral relations even more irreversible. But despite the "ice-melting," it seems that snow and ice covering the Sino-Japanese political landscape are still so thick that they will not melt easily.
Little, if any, progress was actually made in narrowing differences over such touchy issues as interpretations of wartime history and the gas dispute in the East China Sea. Beijing remains alarmed that Abe might visit Yasukuni Shrine. Although Abe has refrained from visiting Yasukuni Shrine since becoming premier, he has said he will never say whether he will make a pilgrimage there.
Tokyo and Beijing also pursue different approaches to North Korea. Japan has kept up pressure on the reclusive Stalinist neighbor, not only because of that country’s nuclear and missile programs but also because of the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the past, while China has consistently advocated a conciliatory approach to Pyongyang.
Beijing also remains opposed to Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the powerful United Nations Security Council, of which China is a permanent member with veto power, along with the U.S., Russia, Britain and France. There are also growing concerns on both sides about the other’s security policies.
Sino-Japanese relations sharply deteriorated under Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who upset Beijing by repeatedly visiting Yasukuni, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo that honors some convicted war criminals involved in the invasion of China and much of Asia before and during World War II, along with some 2.5 million other war dead.
During the last few years of Koizumi's five-and-a-half-year premiership, China shunned top-level contacts with him, even during international conferences in third countries, in protest against what it viewed as his glorification of Japan's militaristic past.
But bilateral relations began to warm up when Abe succeeded Koizumi last September and made a fence-mending trip to Beijing soon afterward. In the Chinese capital, Abe met with top leaders, including President Hu and Premier Wen. They agreed to "strive to build a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests," according to a joint press statement issued then.
In stark contrast with the Koizumi era, during which Sino-Japanese relations were often said to be "hot in business" amid booming trade and investment but "cold in politics," this week's meeting between Abe and Wen was the third in just six months. They also met during an international conference in the Philippines in January. Abe also met with Hu during another international conference in Vietnam last November.
In his talks with Abe, Wen stopped short of naming any specific history issues but was quoted as telling Abe, "The history issue is a grave problem that affects national sentiment and the political foundations of our relations ... It will be an obstacle to our ties if not tackled properly."
The joint press statement issued after the Abe-Wen talks makes a veiled reference to the bitter dispute over wartime history. "The two sides resolved to look squarely at history and jointly head to the future by paving the way for beautiful relations between the two nations," it says.
Many Chinese still harbor resentment over Japanese invasions before and during World War II, while Japanese nationalists accuse Beijing of exaggerating accounts of atrocities for political gains. The Chinese public's anti-Japan feelings still run deep, especially because of an educational campaign launched in the 1990s at the behest of President Hu's predecessor, Jiang Zemin, widely known for its anti-Japan stance, which was aimed at instilling patriotism among Chinese.
While this year marks the celebratory, 35th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties, it is also a highly sensitive year for Sino-Japanese relations because it marks the 70th anniversary of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, which triggered the second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45), and also of the Nanking massacre, commonly known as the Rape of Nanking, an infamous war crime committed by Japanese soldiers.
On Thursday, Wen addressed the Diet, Japan's parliament, becoming the first Chinese premier to do so. In his speech, Wen urged Japan to take "concrete action" to face up to its wartime history. "For the sake of friendship and cooperation, it is necessary to sum up and remember the lessons from the unfortunate past history," Wen said. "Peace and friendship between China and Japan have a serious bearing upon our countries' destiny and the well-being of our peoples."
Focusing on the history issue in the first half of his 40-minute speech, Wen acknowledged Japan's repeated apologies over its wartime aggressions but stressed, "We sincerely hope that Japan will demonstrate it with actual concrete actions." These remarks were apparently directed to Abe's recent denial of the Japanese military's involvement in wartime sex slavery and were also widely taken as a thinly veiled warning to Abe not to visit Yasukuni Shrine while in office.
The bilateral dispute over natural-gas reserves in the East China Sea figured prominently in the Ab-Wen talks, and the two premiers reaffirmed the need to accelerate negotiations on a possible joint development project.
At issue are Chinese natural-gas projects in the waters near the so-called median line, which was drawn by Japan but has not been recognized by China. The line is meant to separate the two countries' overlapping 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones. China argues that the entire East China Sea continental shelf, extending eastward nearly all the way to the southernmost inhabited Japanese island of Okinawa, is a "natural prolongation" of the Chinese mainland.
In the past seven rounds of cabinet-level talks, the two countries have agreed to develop gas reserves jointly in the disputed waters. But they remain far apart over specifics, especially the areas to be jointly developed. Abe called for implementing the joint development project in a "relatively extensive area that is acceptable to both sides," and he asked Wen to exercise his leadership so that the matter can be resolved by the next time they meet.
According to the joint press statement, the two leaders agreed to hold the next round of talks on the gas dispute in May and instructed their negotiators to report back to them on specific methods for joint development by this autumn.
Since taking office last September, Abe has advocated a more assertive foreign policy and further strengthening of the security alliance with the U.S. He has also vowed to seek revisions of the postwar pacifist constitution to allow the nation to play a greater role in the international security arena, especially in step with the U.S.
Tokyo and Washington, increasingly concerned about China's rapid military buildup and modernization, have called for Beijing to make more transparent its military policy, including military spending, which has kept swelling at a double-digit pace in percentage terms for nearly two decades. Meanwhile, Beijing has been alarmed by strengthened security cooperation between Tokyo and Washington in recent years.
Japan and the United States signed a final pact on the realignment of U.S. bases and forces on Japanese soil last May. Aimed at reducing strains on Japanese communities that host bases while maintaining the U.S. presence in Japan, the pact will also further cement the bonds between the close allies through increased integration of their military operations and pave the way for Tokyo's greater involvement in U.S.-led operations, not only in Asia but globally.
Beijing views with deep suspicion the move toward a stronger security alliance between Japan and the U.S., especially since a peaceful settlement to tensions in the Taiwan Strait was included in a list of common strategic goals to be pursued by Tokyo and Washington under the new security arrangements. Beijing still regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.
There are also suspicions in China that the real US motive for the sweeping overhaul of its military's global posture might be what some call the "soft containment" of its rapidly ascending military and economic power. The Bush administration publicly denies any intention to contain China, and claims its policy is to encourage China to be a "responsible stakeholder" in the international system.
In his Wednesday talks with Wen, Abe touched on Japan's concerns over the lack of transparency in China's military buildup. In response to Wen's request, Abe, who is known as a pro-Taiwan politician, also reassured the Chinese leader that Japan will uphold its "one-China" policy and will not support Taiwan's independence.
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