The smiling photographs of Chinese PM Wen Jiabao, his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe by his side, suggest serious rapprochement during last week’s landmark talks between the two countries. But the common expression used to define the complex relationship between Asia’s two key players remains the same — ‘economically close, politically wide apart’.

Wen, who became the first Chinese leader to be invited to address the Japanese Diet on Thursday, spoke of a “new stage in our mutually beneficial strategic relationship”. He expressed strong expectations for strengthened economic ties. It is not as if Wen, a leading critic of Japan’s reluctance to acknowledge and apologise for its past brutal colonial record in Asia, did not refer to this sour topic while in Tokyo. But during his visit the Chinese premier took pains to temper animosity with praise for Japan, such as by thanking Japanese leaders for publicly acknowledging the war of aggression and expressing remorse.

The Asahi newspaper commented in an editorial on Apr. 14: ‘’We welcome such a clearly stated positive evaluation of Japan’s past apologies for invading China.” The fallout has been impressive. On Monday, for example, close on the heels of Wen’s departure, newspaper polls indicated that Abe had boosted his sagging public support “up to 44 per cent compared to 36 per cent pre-Wen — a development attributed to the “the thawing of Sino-Japanese relations”.

In other key steps that point to progress is a possible visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao in June, an invitation to the Japanese Emperor to grace the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and a new list of agreements between the two countries on environment and energy, all milestones in bilateral ties.

Junichiro Koizumi, Abe’s predecessor, had angered his Asian neighbours when he insisted on paying respects at Japan’s war shrine, Yasukuni, where war criminals responsible for the colonisation of China are interred. China and South Korea refused to have summit meetings with Koizumi for that reason. The long freeze that followed caused alarm mostly within the Japanese business sector that has invested heavily in China reaping benefits from its cheap labour, huge domestic market and physical proximity.

But, says Prof. Minoru Kitamura, expert on modern Chinese history at Ritsumeikan University, Abe reversed the diplomatic stance when he visited Beijing last October, his first international tour after he took office.

Despite the glow that the two leaders are now basking in, the reluctance to discuss serious issues — historical differences and ongoing territorial disputes such as China’s gas prospecting in disputed waters — that divide the two sides remain a dangerous sign, say experts.

A looming threat is Abe’s position on Japan’s war responsibility. Abe is steering a change in the constitution to allow Japan to play a larger role in Asian security. On his agenda is also a new investigation to show former Chinese and other Asian sex slaves were not coerced by the imperial army.

Another problem is Japan’s discontent at China’s growing defence budget — a 17.8 per cent hike from last year to $45 billion. Efforts by Abe, who calls for transparency over such issues as the increase of Chinese naval forces facing Taiwan, have not been heeded by Beijing. — IPS