The China-Japan rapprochement seen from Afar 

Europe and the rest of the international community should take more than a distant interest in this week’s visit to Japan by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China April 11 to 13, but also take an active part in assuring the sustainability of the rapprochement by the two main Asian powers since much of the world also has a stake in the outcome.

Aware of their need to advance their relations, both sides in the annual EU-China Summit Meeting in Helsiesnki September 9 emphasised the progress on some major issues while seeking to relegate past and future difficulties into the background.

The latest visit to Europe of the Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, probably did little to resolve or clarify the dispute and delicate discussion between his followers and Chinese authorities, but it may have served to put the important subject of religion in China into a new perspective.

The latest in a regular series of Chinese summit visits to Europe by President Hu Jintao in November were filled with ceremonies, lucrative contracts and protests in three major countries, but underlined that the relationships with China were expanding despite a catalogue of trade and other difficulties.