TOKYO — The leaders of Japan and China held their first summit in Tokyo in a decade today, in a feel-good bid to improve relations amid territorial disputes and spats over food safety and history.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao sat down for talks expected to touch on issues including a feud over maritime gas deposits and Beijing’s handling of protests in Tibet.
The Asian giants have worked hard to cast a warm glow on the talks while downplaying expectations of concrete agreements. Ties between the two had plummeted until Fukuda’s predecessor made a fence-mending trip to Beijing in 2006.
As a show of initial goodwill, Hu on Tuesday offered to lend Tokyo a pair of pandas for joint research.
But hundreds of protesters marched against China’s policy in Tibet and thousands of riot police were mobilized to ensure Hu’s safety.
Hu, the first Chinese president to come to Tokyo since Jiang Zemin in 1998, was to be given the full state-guest treatment.
