Hu Jintao to make landmark visit to Japan
30 April 2008
President Hu Jintao will visit Japan from May 6 to 10, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday. According to state media, it will be the first visit to Japan by a Chinese president in a decade. Hu is expected to meet with Japan's Emperor Akihito and hold talks with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. The visit is the clearest sign yet that the two countries are trying to put political tensions behind them. "We are ready to make joint efforts with Japan to further the relationship," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the country just over a year ago appeared to draw a line under the frosty diplomatic climate that had dominated the tenure of former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Fukuda has so far avoided issues that have angered China in the past, such as Koizumi's visits to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine and disputed claims to East China Sea gas fields.
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