Japanese PM Taro Aso meets Chinese counterpart on first official visit to China

Japanese PM Taro Aso meets Chinese counterpart

BEIJING — Japan’s prime minister and his Chinese counterpart met Wednesday in Beijing for talks on how to ride out the global financial crisis and boost domestic demand in both countries.

The discussions between Japan’s Taro Aso and China’s Wen Jiabao are the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between the sides, pointing to a major improvement in ties as both sides try to play down political differences that have plagued the relationship in the past.

A statement from the Japanese side said Aso and Wen discussed the global economic crisis and agreed both sides would “devote their utmost efforts to domestic economic measures focused on the extension of domestic demand.”

China overtook the U.S. as Japan’s largest trading partner in 2007 and both countries have been hit hard by slumping demand for their exports.

Tokyo said this week it expected the Japanese economy to contract by 3.3 percent in the fiscal year that began April 1. China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in at least a decade — 6.1 percent — in the first quarter, affecting profits of Japanese companies that are the largest outside investors in China.

The talks had been expected to touch on North Korea — particularly following its threat Wednesday to conduct nuclear and missile tests unless the U.N. apologizes for criticizing its April 5 rocket launch.

However, the Japanese statement made no mention of the issue.

Tokyo has called for harsh measures against North Korea over the launch, which some international governments suspect may have been a test of long-range missile technology but that Pyongyang says was a peaceful satellite launch. Beijing has so far responded mildly.

Aso was to meet Hu Jintao on Thursday and hold a news conference before returning to Tokyo.

In opening remarks to their meeting, Wen called relations “one of the most important bilateral ties for both our countries.”

He added that improvements in relations were due to efforts by both sides and “haven’t come easily.”

China froze high-level exchanges for five years earlier this decade amid rising anti-Japanese sentiment at home that culminated in street protests in 2005 that included attacks on Japanese diplomatic missions in Beijing and Shanghai.

The protests were prompted largely by past visits to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine — seen as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic past — by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Ties have largely recovered since Koizumi’s departure from office in 2007, although many Koreans and Chinese continue to accuse Japan of not fully facing up to its wartime atrocities.