Japan's Ministry of Defense plans to send an official to study
at a Chinese military university this autumn, the Daily
Yomiuri has reported.
The arrangement could be the first since normalization of
China-Japan ties in 1972.
But the Chinese national defense department has not confirmed
the report.
The newspaper said the decision was taken by Japan's Defense
Ministry in the hope of resuming military ties with China following
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ice-breaking visit to China
last October and Premier Wen Jiabao's ice-thawing return visit
in April.
Also, Japan has decided to send its military officials to
Pakistan for a one-year military course. The move is aimed at
strengthening mutual trust with China and Pakistan, the report
quoted Japanese Defense Ministry sources as saying.
Japan traditionally sends its military officials to countries
with which it has close military ties such as the US, South Korea,
Australia and European countries to receive training.
Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan is likely to visit Japan this
autumn, in the latest sign of warming up of ties between the
neighbors. The trip would be the first of its kind in almost a
decade, and is likely to be followed by a Chinese warship visiting
a Japanese port for the first time.
The two neighbors couldn't establish defense ties for years
because of rocky relations, for which former Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi was partly to blame. Koizumi continued visiting
the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 class-A World War II criminals
and is seen by many Asian countries as a symbol of Japan's
militarist past.
A Japanese navy vessel will probably pay a return visit to China
next year.
The military exchanges between the two countries, despite being
limited, are expected to improve mutual understanding and play an
important role in bettering relations, Professor Fan Zhenjiang, of
the National Defense University of China, said.
China and Japan agreed to work together to build a mechanism for
defense hotline when Premier Wen Jiabao was in Tokyo in April.
(China Daily July 5, 2007)
