The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),which has won the Aug. 30 general election by landslide, has vowed to construct a more "equal' Japan-US relations. On the other front, it said it will promote diplomacy with Asian countries, including China. But what exact challenges and opportunities are the two Asian powerhouses facing under the brand-new DPJ administration?

Promising changes?

Sino-Japanese relations have experienced ups and downs in the past a few years. During the Junichiro Koizumi administration, the relations was soured by the prime minister's visit to Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine. The frozen bilateral relations has consequently affected trade and economic cooperation to some degree.

However, the episode has made it even clearer for Japan that a sound Japan-China relation is in the best interest of itself. Therefore, bilateral ties were strengthened under the three consecutive prime ministers after Koizumi, namely Abe, Fukuda and Aso.

The DPJ leader Yukio Hatoyama has made it clear that he would not visit the shrine as the nation's prime minister. He also suggested other cabinet members and government officials also avoid visiting the shrine. This could provide basis for developing relations with China as well as other neighboring Asian countries.

Currently, mutual political understanding and trust between the two countries has been reinforced by frequent high-level talks. A number of DPJ members have frequented China during their political career and have profound knowledge about the country, including heavyweights such as Ichiro Ozawa and Naoto Kan. Analysts believe understanding would promote friendship.

Besides, bilateral trade has continued to grow. According to statistics from Japanese government, China has overtaken the United States to become Japan's biggest trading partner since 2007. Meanwhile, the Chinese population in Japan has for the first time outnumbered the Korean to become the largest foreign community in Japan and China has become a major tourist source country for Japan.

Other promising changes include Japan's growing economic reliance on China during the global economic slowdown, and among others, Japan's need to coordinate with China on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Challenges remain?

All the positive elements do not necessarily produce smooth bilateral relations. There remain a number of hurdles in Sino-Japanese relations.

On territorial disputes and exploration of the East China Sea, it is never easy to achieve agreements through negotiation as these issues are highly sensitive in both countries. It is unlikely for Japan to make major concessions even if DPJ becomes the ruling party.

Food safety is another problem of concern. The issue of poisonous dumplings has never been completely resolved, and food safety and product quality are at the center of trade relations between the two countries.

Another factor is the negative image on China held by Japanese people. Recent media survey has shown that Japanese people's feeling towards China deteriorated after the dumplings issue. But a more profound reason for the growing antipathy could be the fear of a rising power. It would take some time for the image to gradually improve.

Furthermore, the DPJ has always attached great importance to human rights issues. DPJ Secretary General Katsuya Okada, who is expected to become the next foreign minister, has said the issues of Tibet and Xinjiang are basically China's domestic issues, but if human rights are violated in such areas Japan would "make its own voice heard as a member of the international community."

However, as the focus of DPJ at present is still Japan's domestic politics, in particular, next year's upper house election. Analysts believe it's impossible for DPJ to make major changes in its policies with China.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2009)