After a cold spell, Sino-Japanese relations are warming
again.
China and Japan are working hard to keep the momentum that their
relations have gathered since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's
visit to China on October 8-9.
Abe's China trip has been followed by surprisingly frequent
contacts between the two countries.
A delegation from the House of Councilors of the National Diet
of Japan - headed by its president, Ogi Chikage - is in China for
three-day discussions with the National People's Congress of China
(NPC). They are the guests of Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee
of the NPC.
Wang Jiarui, director of the International Department of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, left for Tokyo
for the second round of exchanges between the ruling parties of the
two countries. Members of his delegation are expected to have
heart-to-heart talks with their Japanese counterparts, including
the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Komei Party. The meeting is
part of the Sino-Japanese ruling parties' exchange mechanism, which
was initiated in 2004 and formally launched in February of this
year.
Such a frequent exchange of visits between high-raking officials
of the two countries, which began shortly after Abe's China trip,
will solidify the consensus reached by their leaders at their
summit.
The trip symbolized the thaw of the deadlocked China-Japan
political relationship and opened the window of hope for a better
one between the two neighbors.
China and Japan were of the same view that they should overcome
the political obstacles hampering the development of bilateral
relations and promote the development of friendly and co-operative
ties.
They agreed that their relations are one of their most important
bilateral arrangements.
More contacts between the two countries, at both the official
and person-to-person levels, will help them understand each other
better.
Ogi Chikage is the first President of the House of Councilors of
the National Diet of Japan to visit China in seven years, since
former president Saito Juro's trip in 1999. Chikage's discussions
with her Chinese counterparts, which ran from Sunday through
Tuesday, focus on initiating more exchanges between members of the
two parliaments.
It is expected that China and Japan will deliberate in Tokyo on
a wide range of issues, such as historical studies and approaches
to co-operation.
However, it is unrealistic to predict that a round of meetings
will shoot all the problems, especially the controversy of the
Yasukuni Shrine.
There are still some historical and practical factors that are
likely to constitute obstacles to a smooth development of bilateral
ties in the future.
China has been inviting leaders of Japan's LDP, Democratic
Party, Socialist Democratic Party and Communist Party to this land
this year. These visits have added a wealth of building blocks to
the development of China-Japan relations.
(China Daily October 17, 2006)
