Building upon the achievement of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Hu Jintao during their Beijing summit in October 2006, Mr. Abe and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have agreed on concrete measures for promoting a "mutually beneficial strategic relationship" in such fields as economic cooperation and environmental protection. This is a welcome development. It is hoped that the talks between Mr. Abe and Mr. Wen will serve as a springboard for further progress by Japan and China in deepening mutual trust so that both countries can establish truly good-neighborly and cooperative relations.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China. Mr. Wen came to Japan after meeting with President Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea, with which China opened diplomatic relations almost 15 years ago. Mr. Wen's Japan visit is the first by a Chinese premier since Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit in October 2000.
This lapse is testimony to the chilly bilateral relations that had prevailed. The ties had deteriorated especially over then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine. Two years ago around this time, large-scale anti-Japanese demonstrations raged in Beijing, Shanghai and other parts of China. They apparently contributed to cultivating anti-Chinese sentiment among many Japanese.