Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan kicked off his five-day official
goodwill visit to Japan yesterday, the first visit by a Chinese
defense minister to the country in more than nine years, a move
seen by many commentators as a sign of thawing relations.
The Defense Ministry earlier said the visit aims to fulfill the
consensus reached between the leaders, improve understanding,
develop friendship, as well as reinforce communication and trust in
the defense and security fields.
Cao will inspect and address Japan's Self-Defense Forces, as
well as meet with newly appointed Japanese Defense Minister
Masahiko Komura, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry.
The two ministers are expected to meet today to discuss
reciprocal visits of the Chinese navy and Japanese maritime
self-defense forces, the setting up of a hotline between the two
countries' defense authorities, and China's military spending,
Japanese media reported.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed with Chinese leaders
to boost bilateral defense exchanges when he visited China last
year.
After the five-day trip to Japan, Cao will visit the Philippines
at the invitation of Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilbert
Teodoro.
Sino-Japanese ties have improved since Japanese and Chinese
prime ministers paid reciprocal visits to each other's country in
October 2006 and April 2007, but thorny issues still remain.
On August 22, Abe, on a visit to India, called for the
establishment of a "Broader Asia", which brings together powers
such as Japan, India, the United States and Australia. He did not
mention China in the partnership, which some commentators see as a
containment policy.
"The major task of the 'Sino-Japanese strategic and
mutually-beneficial relationship' is to build strategic mutual
trust. If we do not trust each other, the relationship will never
be established," Feng Zhaokui, a Japan specialist at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, said.
"The key point (of our mutual trust) is the trust in the
security field. There is no doubt that the visit by Minister Cao
will take the first step in that direction."
(China Daily via agencies August 30, 2007)
