Politics: Diplomacy: BBC reports on agenda of China/Japan negotiations

BBC reports "Japan and China aim to thaw ties" (Apr11,1k7) in the visit of China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, to Tokyo. Already there's news that "The two men issued a joint statement promising to look frankly at their historical disputes, and signed accords on energy and the environment." Further issues, including the history agenda, are:

*History: Japan's neighbours often think it has not done enough to atone for wartime atrocities
*Trade: Bilateral trade is growing strongly
*North Korea: Japan often takes a tougher stance than China over the nuclear issue
*East China Sea: Beijing and Tokyo disagree over the boundary between their exclusive economic zones
*Security: Japan wants to revise is pacifist constitution, which concerns China. China's military expansion concerns Japan

Here's the start of the main text of the article, an article recording what could well turn out to be of world-historical importance.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, at the start of a summit hailed as a sign of improved relations.

Asia > Japan, China

The two men issued a joint statement promising to look frankly at their historical disputes, and signed accords on energy and the environment.

"Our talks will be a big step toward building strategically and mutually beneficial relations," Mr Abe said.

Mr Wen is the first Chinese prime minister to visit Japan in seven years.

The meeting followed a trip by Mr Abe to China in October - the first sign of a thaw in ongoing tensions between the two countries.

A valuable analysis of these then-prospective developments may be found at the Open Democracy website in a short essay by Andrew Joyce, "China and Japan: between past and future " (Apr10,2k7).