Both sides have already made serious efforts to improve relations, beginning with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Beijing in October 2006, followed by Premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to Japan last spring.

Also being planned is an exchange of visits by new Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao, most likely in the early part of next year. The visits would take place on the 30th anniversary of the signing of a peace and friendship treaty by the two countries.

Significantly, the treaty was signed on the Japanese side by the then-prime minister, Takeo Fukuda, father of the current leader.

Such symbolism is important to China and Premier Wen Jiabao, who publicly mentioned this fact when he met with Fukuda last Tuesday in Singapore, where both men were attending the third East Asia Summit. The hope is that the junior Fukuda will carry on his father’s work and raise Sino-Japanese relations to a new level.

The two sides have reached consensus on some sensitive issues such as the handling of Taiwan, the construction of a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship, and achieving the goal of “peaceful coexistence, friendship for generations, mutually-beneficial cooperation and common development.”

In fact, public sentiment in both countries has shifted significantly since the improvement in governmental relations.

According to a joint poll conducted by a Japanese and Chinese company, as of August, 33.1 percent of Japanese respondents viewed China favorably, compared to 12 percent the previous year. As for Chinese, 24.4 percent viewed Japan favorably, up from 14 percent a year earlier.

These figures reflect changing images of Japan in the minds of the Chinese public. In 2005 and 2006, when Chinese students were asked “What first comes to mind when you think of Japan?” the top answer was the “Nanjing Massacre” of 1937. This year, however, the first answer was “cherry blossoms,” with the Nanjing Massacre coming in second.

The alteration in public opinion reflects shifts on the parts of the two governments, indicating that the recent positive trend can easily be reversed unless there is continued improvement in governmental relations.

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