LONDON -- The appointment of Shinzo Abe as Japan's new prime minister has aroused considerable Western interest, and not a little enthusiasm. People in the West like to see a clear-thinking younger leader emerge. And they like what they hear from Abe about Japan becoming fully qualified as a normal nation and as a responsible global player, and about engagement with giant neighbor China, although very much on a firm, no-nonsense basis.
Some commentators have gone even further and waxed lyrical about a new Japan-China clean energy pact and other initiatives. But it is seems early days yet for such hopes.
After all, no one really knows anyway whether China is just being awkward over specific issues, like the delicate question of visits to Yasukuni Shrine, or whether the rulers in Beijing would carry on being hostile anyway, picking quarrels on other matters, even if the shrine did not exist. Time will tell.