leader's longest state visit to a foreign country since he became president in 2003. This is also Hu's first outing abroad since anti-Chinese unrest erupted in Tibet in March, stoking international protests against the Beijing Olympics that drew China into rows with the West and ignited Chinese counter-protests. During his visit, Hu will hold talks with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, attend a dinner at the Imperial Palace and speak to students at Tokyo's Waseda University.
On the eve of his departure, Hu told Japan's Kyoto News Agency that his trip heralds a "warm spring" in relations between Asia's two biggest powers, which have long been dogged by disputes and tensions over history. It is a pointedly upbeat description after years of diplomatic cold shoulders, particularly over former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni shrine, which is seen by Japan's neighbors as an unrepentant symbol of its prior militarist tradition.
The trip is widely expected to be about soothing fears and suspicions, not sealing deals, but Hu is "confident that through joint efforts by both sides, this visit will be able to achieve the expected results." A solution, for instance, could be reached for the quarrel over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea.
Disputes over Beijing's ballooning defense budget, food safety and Tokyo's hopes for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council are bound to surface. But neither side expects breakthroughs in these areas.
This visit won't solve any substantive issues but will symbolize that relations are normalizing. The symbolism of the visit itself will be the main substance.
The two countries have a lot at stake economically in improved ties. China replaced the U.S. as Japan's top trade partner last year, with two-way trade totaling US$236.6 billion, up 12 per cent from 2006. Beijing now wants more Japanese investment and technology, and Japan hopes to sell more to Chinese consumers as growth in other markets slows.
In April last year, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made what he called an "ice-thawing" visit to Japan, and Fukuda -- who has pleased Beijing by ruling out visiting Yasukuni while in office -- visited China in late 2007.
Hu said China was "exerting great efforts" to resolve differences on various issues, including a row over Chinese-made dumplings that sickened 10 people in Japan.
Hu obviously wants a lasting improvement in relations with Japan to be one of his defining foreign policy achievements. He will focus on future cooperation, not bad memories, if only Japan's ultra-right would respond in kind.
