Caution and a wait-and-see attitude characterize the reaction in China to the launch Wednesday of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, with some speculating the security hawk may employ a pragmatic approach to Beijing after improving ties during his first term from September 2006 to September 2007.
Officials and scholars expressed caution regarding Japan's "shift to the right," while others said Abe may act to temper relations strained by issues involving the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.
"Mr. Abe has sent a signal to improve China-Japan relations," said Liu Jiangyong, vice dean of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University in Beijing.