China and Japan Mending Frail Relationship One Step at a Time

Negotiating the politics of a shared history of war and territorial disputes is less easy than managing trade. China and Japan are each other’s second largest trade partner . Despite nationalistic fervor and intense mistrust in both nations, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met briefly in November during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, preceded by months of negotiations and last-minute bickering over English translations of the meeting’s formal agreement. The two leaders may be more pragmatic than the chilly exchange indicated, though with dialogue resuming on a number of fronts, reports Kristine Kwok for South Morning China Post. Representatives of both nations met in December on environment and energy in Beijing, and governments are set to resume negotiations on a crisis-management mechanism aimed at avoiding conflicts in the East China Sea. The 70th anniversary of the end to World War II, reviving bitter memories of invasions and atrocities, will test regional ties. – YaleGlobal