Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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April 11, 2007

Chinese Premier Wen Puts History Aside, Visits Japan
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=170534E:A6F02AD83191E160A6D166584C6F5F379574F7DCC14957C0 Wen Jiabao says he
came to Japan to mend relations strained by disputes over territory
and past history of agression between two countries   China's premier,
Wen Jiabao, is in Tokyo - the first visit by a Chinese leader to Japan
in about seven years. VOA's Luis Ramirez reports from the Japanese
capital.







Children welcome Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at Tokyo's Haneda airport,
11 Apr 2007Schoolchildren waved Chinese and Japanese flags and cheered
the Chinese premier in the pouring rain as he descended the stairs of
his airplane Wednesday in Tokyo.

Wen Jiabao says he came to Japan on a visit meant to mend relations
strained by disputes over territory and Japan's past history of
aggression against China.

Now, the Chinese are ready to talk about boosting cooperation on
trade, environmental, and security matters. Mr. Wen went straight into
a meeting with Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe.

Wednesday's agenda included the signing of a number of agreements on
energy and environmental cooperation. Only hours before Mr. Wen's
arrival in Tokyo, the two countries signed an agreement to end a
four-year Chinese ban on Japanese rice imports.

But despite the cordialities and expressions of a new attitude of
cooperation, the problems behind the past bitterness remain
unresolved.

Mr. Abe has not publicly committed to refraining from visiting the
Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo. The shrine is where Japan honors its war
dead, including several convicted war criminals responsible for
atrocities during Japan's occupation of China in the 1930s and 1940s.







Yasukuni Shrine in TokyoYasukuni was the scene of a small protest
Wednesday by members of nationalist groups that oppose any attempt by
China to stop Japanese leaders from visiting the shrine.

With martial music playing from a loudspeaker on a van, the
demonstrators held signs telling Wen Jiabao to stay out of Japan. One
protester, who gave his name as Hirayama, says he feels betrayed by
Mr. Abe for what he sees as the Japanese leader's bowing to China.







Demonstrators outside the Yasukuni Shrine protest Chinese Premier's
visitHirayama says if he could speak to Shinzo Abe he would accuse him
of being two-faced, for telling his right-wing supporters that he
favors taking a hard line on China while inviting the Chinese leader
and making what Hirayama sees as too many concessions to the Chinese
communist government.

Japan is one of China's top trading partners and analysts say Mr. Abe
is eager to show Japanese businesspeople that he is doing his part to
improve ties with China. The Chinese, for their part, want to move
forward with deals that include settling a longstanding dispute over
control of potential oil and gas fields in the East China Sea.

While no one expects all the issues to be resolved soon, the Chinese
premier's visit is seen as one step toward better cooperation between
Japan -- the top economy of Asia -- and China, which is rising fast.


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