Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday that Chinese leaders expressed understanding of Japan's role in the ongoing U.S.-led antiterrorism operations and his controversial summer visit to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin told Koizumi that relations between the two countries, which had been tense due to a series of disputes in recent months, will start to improve, according to a Japanese official who briefed the news media.
Jiang said China understands Japan's bid to cooperate in the fight against terrorism, but he added Tokyo should also understand there is caution among Asian nations toward Japan's plans to send Self-Defense Force personnel to provide logistic support to the U.S.-led strikes against Afghanistan, the official said.
"I sought understanding over our plan to take as firm an attitude as possible without the use of military force . . . and I obtained that understanding," Koizumi told reporters after wrapping up his one-day visit to Beijing aimed at mending soured relations. He left for Tokyo later in the afternoon.