Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived?in Tokyo?Wednesday
for a three-day official visit he described as an "ice melter" of
Sino-Japanese ties following the "ice-breaking" trip to China last
October by his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
The visit is the first by a Chinese premier since 2000 and
occurs against the backdrop of the two countries working hard to
mend relations.
Their relationship turned frosty under Abe's predecessor,
Junichiro Koizumi, largely due to his annual visits to the Yasukuni
shrine, where Japan's war dead including 14 class-A World War II
criminals were enshrined.
"If Prime Minister Abe's visit to China... can be described as
an ice breaker, then I hope my visit to Japan will be an ice
thawer," Wen told the press before his visit.
Abe chose China as the destination for his first overseas trip
after taking office in September, a move believed to be a sign of
the new prime minister's eagerness to improve relations with
China.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry officials have revealed that the
economic issue will be high up on Wen's agenda.
China and Japan will draft a joint document spelling out the two
countries' aspirations to build a strategic, mutually beneficial
relationship, and the major tasks involved in this relationship,
according to Chinese officials.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that through the
visit, Wen also hopes to promote long-term educational, cultural
and youth exchanges between the two countries that would boost
good-neighborly relations between China and Japan.
During his stay, Wen is expected to hold talks with Abe and
deliver a speech in the Japanese Diet (or parliament), the first by
a Chinese leader in 22 years.
In the 35 years since they normalized relations, China and Japan
have witnessed a steady growth of bilateral exchanges. The two
countries also disagree over historical issues and dispute over
natural gas fields in the East China Sea.
(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2007)
