Japan’s prime minister arrived in China yesterday for a two-day visit aimed at laying stronger foundations for cooperation between the historic Asian rivals, amid global economic and health crises.
Prime Minister Taro Aso, on his first state visit to China, was scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) yesterday and President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) today, despite flare-ups over long-standing issues.
Aso last week upset China with an offering to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni war shrine, and Japan’s foreign minister chided Beijing over its nuclear weapons program.
China’s angry responses highlighted the sensitive nature of the relationship, with Beijing remembering Japan’s past wartime abuses and Tokyo looking warily at China’s rising might.
But analysts said Asia’s two biggest economies would seek pragmatic ways to tackle mutual threats.
They were expected to discuss a range of issues from measures to combat a deadly strain of swine flu to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to cooperation and dispute settlement in economic issues.
The summit aims to “nurture individual trust between the leaders ... and to promote friendly national sentiment toward each other,” said Akio Takahara, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Tokyo. “The two countries are already important partners on the economic front and in security.”
Ties have generally warmed significantly since the era of former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, who infuriated China with his annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine.
China suspended top-level talks with Japan during Koizumi’s 2001 to 2006 tenure and only resumed dialogue after Shinzo Abe took over as prime minister and refrained from making similar visits.
One of the most pressing bilateral challenges is the global downturn. The two nations have said they must work together to face the crisis, as well as for longer-term economic development.
“China needs Japan’s investment and technologies for its development, especially related to energy efficiency and environmental protection,” Takahara said.
North Korea’s controversial nuclear weapons program will also be on the agenda.
Japan, with the US, led a push to punish North Korea after it launched a rocket over Japanese territory early this month, while the regime’s communist ally China, and Russia, favored a softer line.
Women’s accessories sold by some of the world’s most popular online shopping firms contained toxic substances sometimes hundreds of times above acceptable levels, authorities in Seoul said yesterday. Chinese giants including Shein, Temu and AliExpress have skyrocketed in popularity around the world in the past few years, offering a vast selection of trendy clothes and accessories at low prices. The explosive growth has led to increased scrutiny of their business practices and safety standards, including in the EU and South Korea, where Seoul officials have been conducting weekly inspections of items sold by online platforms. In the most recent inspection, 144 products from
The US on Monday confirmed that it would resume sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, as concerns over human rights in the kingdom’s Yemen war give way to US hopes for it to play a role in resolving the conflict in Gaza. More than three years after imposing limits on human rights grounds over Saudi Arabian strikes in Yemen, the US Department of State said that it would return to weapons sales “in regular order, with appropriate congressional notification and consultation.” “Saudi Arabia has remained a close strategic partner of the United States, and we look forward to enhancing that partnership,”
Russia yesterday ordered more evacuations in a region bordering Ukraine as it battled to contain an unprecedented push onto its territory by Kyiv’s forces. Ukraine last week sent troops into Russia’s border region of Kursk, in the largest cross-border operation by Kyiv since Moscow launched its offensive more than two years ago. The assault, which has sent tens of thousands of people fleeing, marked the most significant attack by a foreign army on Russian territory since World War II. A top Ukrainian official said that the operation was aimed at stretching Moscow troops and destabilizing the nation after months of slow Russian advances
Turning heads as they cruise past office buildings and malls, driverless taxis are slowly spreading through Chinese cities, prompting both wariness and wonder. China’s tech companies and vehicle manufacturers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology over the past few years in an effort to catch industry leaders in the US. Now the central city of Wuhan boasts one of the world’s largest networks of self-driving cars, home to a fleet of more than 500 taxis that can be hailed on an app just like regular rides. At one intersection in an industrial area of Wuhan, AFP reporters saw at least five