Hu Jintao's visit to Japan: was it a success or failure?

China’s President Hu Jintao just finished his five day Japan visit to bolster the economic and political relationship between the two countries. How successful it was? Still now, the people of two countries are haunted by their war time history. In his statement, China’s President Hu Jintao said that people of the two countries suffered a lot because of the history. He also said that it is important to remember the past but that does not mean that people should hold grudges. The people should use history to look forward and think of future. As a sign of friendship, President Hu Jintao proposed to lease two Pandas. He also played ping pong with Ai Fukuhara, famous Japanese table tennis player, who is also quite popular in China. On his final day, President Hu Jintao visited Nara, Japan’s ancient capital, at the west of Tokyo. There he paid his respects at two Buddhist temples which was followed by a visit at the head quarter of Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (TYO:6752).

China has supplanted the USA as Japan’s largest trading partner. Currently, 20,000 Japanese companies are operating in China. Though Japan is still world’s second largest economy but China is observing a rapid economic growth and it has surpassed Japan in purchasing power. China will become the next major Asian economic power and Hu Jintao’s Japan visit also shows an acceptance of that trend.

The two countries are not without their own problems. For example, Japan’s low birth rate and increasing number of aging population is a big problem for the country’s economy. Because of this problem, many Japanese politicians think that Japan must cooperate with its ‘booming neighbor.’ In his speech at Waseda University, President Hu Jintao said that China is still the world’s largest developing country. Its population is large but basis is weak and development is unbalanced. In addition, heavy industrialization has led to serious environmental degradation all over China. In this regard, Japan’s technical know-how can be a major boost for the country.

To many people, the visit was not a successful one. It was a ‘carefully orchestrated visit’ or ‘ping pong’ diplomacy.

The leaders of the two countries did not actually discuss any of the major problems remaining between the two countries. In February, 175 Japanese people became sick eating Chinese made dumpling which led to boycott of China made food products. There is also disagreement between two countries regarding gas and oil exploration in the Eastern China sea bed. Issues like these were not highlighted in this visit. Hu Jintao and Yasuo Fukuda promised to hold summit once a year but the two leaders could not even agree over starting chartered flights between Tokyo and Beijing. As per the issue of East China, the two countries were close to finding agreement but did not reach any agreement.

From a layman’s point of view, I think that the bad relationship between these two countries will not change overnight. It will take lot more but this visit is a beginning of that effort. Now, the rest depends on the eagerness of the politicians of two countries.

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President Hu Jintao's visit to Japan: some latest news

Yesterday, Japan’s Prime Minister and China’s President signed joint statements where the two leaders agreed to solve their territorial problems. They also agreed to hold an annual summit alternating between China and Japan and vowed to work jointly to stop global warming.

In a press conference, Yasuo Fukuda said that China and Japan had no other way but to take the path of peace and friendship and cooperation as neighbors. The two leaders said that they had confirmed that the two nations were cooperative partners, not threats to each other. In the conference, the leaders did not raise the gas field issue of East China sea but Fukuda said that the two countries had a solution in sight. President Hu also met with leaders of major Chinese and Japanese oil companies that were planning to launch a joint venture project.

On the same day, President Hu Jintao also met Japanese Emperor Akihito at the Tokyo Royal Palace. The President received a red carpet welcome and guard of honor. The emperor drank to the success of China in hosting the upcoming Olympics.

According to Japanese officials, President Hu did not show much interest in talking about Japan’s seat in the UN Security Council. Through this visit, both the leaders are trying to revive their image. Fukuda is trying to regain popularity; on the contrary, China is trying to regain its positive image as for the past few weeks the country has been facing international pressure regarding Tibet issue.

Today is the third day of President Hu Jintao’s five day visit. On the breakfast meeting, President Hu met with former Japanese Prime Ministers but Junichiro Koizumi was not invited. During his tenure as Japan’s Prime Minister, Koizumi went to the Yasukuni Shrine to pay homage to the dead soldiers of Japan. This created serious tension between China and Japan.

The President then went to the Waseda University. In his speech at the university, President Hu addressed the people of the two countries to forget their bitter war time history and build a broad partnership. International Herald Tribune reports:

The president's comments at the elite Waseda University on the wartime past were crucial, as Beijing has often accused Tokyo of failing to properly atone for its military conquests on the Asian mainland in the 1930s and 40s.

In his 30-minute address, Hu mentioned Japan's "militaristic invasion of China," but that it should not be dwelled upon.

"This unfortunate history not only caused tremendous suffering to the Chinese people but also gravely hurt the Japanese people," he said. "It's important for us to remember history, but this does not mean we should hold grudges."

While the President was delivering his speech, anti-China protesters had a fight with the police.A right-leaning alumni group of the university demanded to cancel the speech.

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Hu Jintao's visit to Japan: Will it truly start a long "warm spring"?

Japan and China are the two most powerful countries in Asia now. Unfortunately, these two countries do not have a good relationship. Japan’s Second World War massacre left deep wound in China. On the contrary, China’s continuous rise as a new power has always threatened Japan. For years, efforts have been made to ease the tension but nothing happened. Now, a new light of hope has emerged. For the past twenty months, officials of the two countries are trying to build a friendly relationship. As the ultimate sign of friendly gesture China’s President, Hu Jintao, has come on a five day visit in Japan on May 6^th. After China’s President Jiang Zemin’s visit in 1998, this is the first time any powerful Chinese official has visited China. President, Hu Jintao and Japan’s Prime- Minister, Yasuo Fukuda will attend a series of meetings where the two leaders will discuss about various business and political issues between two countries and draw out the future of Sino-Japanese relation.

Both Yasuo Fukuda and his father, former Prime Minister of Japan, Takeo Fukuda, were very much interested to build a good relationship with China. After Fukuda became Prime Minister, many Chinese people were very happy. Mr. Fukuda is known as a ‘Friend of China’.

China has replaced USA as the major trading partner of Japan. China is experiencing a rapid economic growth and it is hungry for new technology. On the other hand, China as a member of UN’s Security Council, is expected back Japan to be included as a member.

President Hu arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at noon. The two leaders then attended a dinner in Tokyo’s main park. During the dinner, President Hu offered to lend a pair of giant panda’s as a sign of friend ship.

However, many people on both sides are not very optimistic about all this. Hardcore nationalists of both countries oppose the idea of friendship or any kind of ties. Still, it is true that Japan and China are the two most powerful countries in Asia at present and if the people of these two great countries forgive each other for their past mishaps and focus on building a friendly relationship then great things can be accomplished.

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