China and Japan Try to Ease Strain

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met Saturday on the sidelines of a trade conference in Indonesia in a bid to stem the mounting tension between their countries.

Both leaders expressed hope for improved ties during their one-hour meeting at the end of a two-day summit of Asian and African nations in Jakarta. But Hu urged Japan to face its history squarely.

“At the moment Sino-Japanese relations face a difficult situation. Such a difficult situation is not one we want to see,” Hu said in a statement after the closed-door meeting, adding that continued strains “would be detrimental to China and Japan and would affect stability and development in Asia.”

Relations between the Asian neighbors have deteriorated to their lowest level since Beijing and Tokyo resumed diplomatic contacts in 1972. Street demonstrations have flared across China, leading to attacks on the Japanese Embassy and consulates, and vandalism against Japanese cars and businesses.

Chinese outrage followed Tokyo’s announced bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and its approval of a junior high school textbook that critics say glosses over Japan’s brutal wartime occupation of China and other nations in East Asia.

Before Saturday’s meeting, China refused to publicly confirm its willingness to attend the session, despite Japan’s request for nearly a week that the leaders talk and clear the air.

Japan sent Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on an emergency fence-mending mission to Beijing last week during which he sought an apology and compensation for protest-related damage. In doing so, Japan gave the Chinese a forum to accuse it of being unwilling to apologize for its own actions or provide compensation. After putting his prestige on the line, Machimura was sent packing with nothing to show for his trip.

Many Chinese also questioned Koizumi’s expression of “deep remorse” during a speech Friday in Indonesia, noting that it occurred on the day about 80 lawmakers visited Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, where several war criminals are memorialized.

The streets of Beijing and Shanghai were quiet Saturday after three weekends of anti-Japan protests. Paramilitary troops in the two cities far outnumbered civilians around the Japanese Embassy, official residence and consulate. Beijing has mounted a campaign to curb the protests amid what analysts say are the Communist Party’s fears that Chinese demonstrators could turn their attention to the country’s domestic problems, spurring instability.

Few of the issues driving Sino-Japanese tensions are new. History has long been a major irritant between Japan and many East Asian nations.

Under Koizumi, Japan has become much more willing to project its military power, albeit in measured steps, with the positioning of troops in Iraq and a declaration that it considers Taiwan an area of strategic concern. Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and bristles at other nations “meddling in its internal affairs.”

On Saturday, Hu told Japan to handle the Taiwan issue carefully.

China’s rapid strides -- its growing economy, rising living standards and increasing respect in foreign capitals -- contrast sharply with recent trends in Japan, which has struggled to find its feet since the late 1980s.

“China’s economy has developed so quickly, it’s scared Japan,” said Wang Xinsheng, a history professor at Peking University. “Suddenly it’s seeing its poor neighbor become rich so quickly.”

Low-priced Chinese imports and factory relocations add to Japan’s insecurity, where long-delayed economic restructuring and the slow pace of reform have spurred fears of “hollowing out.” And although China’s defense budgets are still a fraction of Japan’s, Beijing’s sharp spending hikes and bid for greater naval power -- some say to intimidate Taiwan -- worry Tokyo.

But the nations need each other, with annual trade between them exceeding $210 billion.

“We hope that the two sides will work together to ensure the healthy, stable development of Sino-Japanese relations,” Hu said Saturday after the meeting.

China recently eclipsed the United States as Japan’s largest trading partner, with 28,000 Japanese companies employing more than 1 million workers in China. Tokyo is increasingly dependent on China for its own economic growth and corporate profits while Beijing needs Japan’s high-end technology and industrial equipment.

Chinese state television Saturday quoted Commerce Minister Bo Xilai decrying the idea of a boycott against Japanese goods and warning that unrest could hurt China’s economy by disrupting trade and investment.

Other countries in Asia also have substantial stakes in seeing relations improve, given their economic and political ties with both sides.

“Southeast Asia doesn’t like to see two elephants fight,” said Toh Lam Seng, a visiting professor of international relations at Peking University. “If they do, smaller countries might get smashed.”

The United States has also sent signals that it would like to see friendlier relations between the two countries. Both are important players in talks aimed at shutting down North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Tensions increase the chances of a military misstep in the region, perhaps over Taiwan.

“In the short term, both sides will have to take steps to repair the relationship. But the long-term prospects are dismal because recent developments cement the notion that Japan and China are on a collision course,” said Minxin Pei, director of the China program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. “The fundamental problem is that neither China nor Japan can find the right place for the other in their respective vision of the regional or global order.”

“To meet is better than not meeting,” said Yang Dongliang, head of Nankai University’s Institute of Japanese studies in Tianjin. “But I don’t think we should place too much significance on it. It’s hard to see how any real progress will result.”