Hong Kong: (89){{U}}Of symbolism there was plenty, but whether Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's landmark visit to Japan will actually lead to closer cooperation remains to be seen.{{/U}} Given the recent history--obsessed relations between China and Japan it was perhaps inevitable that the past should again get more attention than the future. (90) {{U}}But broadly it looks to have been another success for Chinese diplomacy, and for Wen's projection of soft power.{{/U}}
The visit in itself was clear enough indication of China's desire to improve relations sometimes in the face of very mixed signals from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.
While Abe's visit to Beijing last October may have set the ball rolling, some of his subsequent comments about history, and Japan's high-profile strengthening of strategic links with the United States and Australia, could have derailed the attempted rapprochement. (91) {{U}}Wen was able to use the visit to score points by raising the history issue but in the mildest, politest of ways.{{/U}}
(92) {{U}}Japan is also well aware that China, for domestic as well as diplomatic reasons, has cracked down on the more virulent anti-Japanese activities by mainland Web sites and patriotic groups.{{/U}} In return China must surely expect no more visits to the Yasukuni war shrine, events that, however justifiable to a domestic audience, have been a disaster for Japan's diplomacy.
(93) {{U}}China will also be hoping for a revival of Japanese business interest in investing in China which cooled as a result of the widespread anti-Japanese sentiment generated by the Yasukuni (靖国神社) visits.{{/U}}