Shinzo Abe and Hu make 'new start' in Sino-Japan relations

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met top Chinese leaders Sunday in talks that Chinese President Hu Jintao described as a "new start" and "turning point" for chilled bilateral relations as the Japanese leader arrived in Beijing on his first overseas trip as premier that will also take him to South Korea.

Abe told Hu at the outset of their 80-minute summit that he chose China as his first overseas summit to show he attaches "extreme importance to good Japan-China relations" and thanked China for welcoming him.

Ahead of the talks with Hu, the first bilateral summit in 18 months, Abe also met with Premier Wen Jiabao at the Great Hall of the People for about 90 minutes.

"An agreement was reached recently to promote friendly relations by overcoming political difficulties through mutual efforts," Wen said at the outset in explaining a reason for hosting the summit.

"Developing friendly ties conforms to the interests of the people of both countries," Wen said.

Wen, with a full smile, greeted Abe in a welcoming ceremony upon his arrival with 19 canon shots, the protocol for welcoming a visiting prime minister and last performed for a Japanese premier in 1999 during an official visit by Keizo Obuchi.

Details of the summits have not been released, but Abe was expected to propose to Chinese leaders that Japan and China build a "strategic relationship of mutual interest," a senior Japanese official said earlier. It will be the first time for the two countries to seek a "strategic" partnership.

Abe, who will visit Seoul on Monday to meet with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun, said before leaving Tokyo he is eyeing frank discussions with his counterparts on North Korea's nuclear test plan and to "send a message that North Korea will be isolated in the international community unless it gives up (its plan of) conducting nuclear tests."

The summits came amid rising international tensions after North Korea announced last Tuesday it will conduct a nuclear test "in the future" and on Friday the U.N. Security Council warned action will be taken if Pyongyang conducts such a test.

Visiting the two nearby countries in less than two weeks after assuming office Sept 26 shows Abe's eagerness to court the countries and mend relations with them which deteriorated under his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi.

Abe hopes that under the new relationship, Japan and China can join hands in resolving international issues of common interest and to achieve benefits for both sides, the Japanese official said in briefing reporters aboard the government plane on its way to the Chinese capital.

In addition to dealing with North Korea, other common interests and benefits include resolving bilateral disputes over national resources in the East China Sea, cooperating in United Nations reforms, joint efforts in the fields of energy and the environment, and strengthening the business environment for mutual investments.

The 52-year-old premier will also urge the development of strong ties both politically and economically, and wishes to build personal trust with the Chinese leaders.

On Sunday morning, Abe touched on the issue of history perception, a factor that has stalled relations with the neighboring countries, saying, "We will act after humbly considering the past. On that basis, I would like to hold talks with leaders of both countries about the future."

Regarding prime ministerial visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Abe said, "I would like to explain that many prime ministers in the past have paid homage there to mourn those people who lost their lives for the country and to pray for peace."

While Beijing has said the two sides have agreed to "overcome the political obstacle" in the bilateral relationship, Abe has denied he made any compromises and insisted he will not say whether he will go to Yasukuni as premier.

In addition to the talks with Hu and Wen, Abe is also scheduled to hold a half-hour meeting with Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

The three Chinese leaders have arranged to meet with Abe despite their engagements on the opening day of a key domestic political event — a meeting of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee — in an apparent sign of Beijing wanting to improve relations with Japan under a new administration.

Abe has repeatedly said he would like to build "forward-looking" relations with Beijing and Seoul. He was also expected to propose joint history research with China.

Abe, Japan's first premier to be born after World War II, is the first postwar Japanese prime minister to choose China as the destination of his first official overseas trip and the first since 2001 to hold a full summit in China.

Relations have soured chiefly due to Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni in defiance of protests from China and South Korea, which see the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism because it enshrines World War II Class-A war criminals along with the war dead.

The two countries have since 2001 had occasional top-level meetings in third countries but only on the sidelines of other events. The last bilateral summit was held in April last year in Jakarta.

Abe's wife Akie, who is traveling with the prime minister and making her overseas debut as Japan's new first lady, is also in the spotlight. She visited a junior high school and a welfare facility for the handicapped in Beijing on Sunday.

Expectations are high both in and outside Japan that Akie, a fan of South Korean heartthrob Bae Yong Joon, can play a role in softening her husband's hawkish image in the two neighboring countries. Japan has not had a first lady for five and a half years as Abe's predecessor Koizumi is a divorced single.