Japan's New PM Reaches Out To China

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in China on Sunday in an attempt to mend tattered ties between the Asian giants and discuss North Korea's threats to conduct a nuclear test, a move which Beijing and Tokyo have warned would have serious repercussions.

Abe — elected prime minister just two weeks ago — put the visit to China atop his diplomatic agenda because of a deepening rift over former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a Tokyo war shrine and festering territorial disputes. After meeting with Chinese leaders, Abe is scheduled to fly to South Korea for similar talks on Monday.

"I want to hold summits to clear the sky for the future of our countries," Abe told reporters on the tarmac in Tokyo before his departure. "I will hold heart-to-heart talks about improving relations for future generations."

It will be the first summit between Japan and China since Koizumi met Jiang Zemin in October 2001 and the first full-fledged state visit, with a formal welcoming ceremony, since 1999. Japan's last summit with South Korea was in June last year.

Japanese officials said the hastily arranged visits are aimed not so much at making specific agreements but at simply increasing trust.

Indeed, Abe appeared to have little to offer his hosts; he has vowed not to say one way or the other if he will pay homage at the Yasukuni war shrine and is not expected to make any concessions on Tokyo's long-standing territorial claims.

The People's Daily, the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper, noted approvingly that Abe had sought to cool passions over the shrine. "Since becoming prime minister, Abe said he didn't want a public argument on this issue ... and hoped that it would not become a political and diplomatic issue," the newspaper said in a commentary.

Koizumi inflamed emotions with China and South Korea by repeatedly visiting Yasukuni during his five years in office. The shrine, where a handful of war criminals are worshipped along with all of Japan's fallen soldiers, is seen by many as a symbol of Japanese militarism.

Abe has visited the shrine before and supported Koizumi's visits. But, fearing a backlash from Japanese conservatives if he doesn't go, he has so far refused to make his own plans clear.

Abe's personal background makes the Yasukuni issue even more complex.

An outspoken right-winger, Abe's maternal grandfather was arrested for war crimes after Japan's 1945 defeat, but then went on to become prime minister. In parliament, Abe has stressed his desire for more "patriotic" education and an overhaul of his country's postwar pacifist constitution, but has also repeated his intention to repair ties with Japan's neighbors.

"Japan must think and act modestly on historical issues," Abe said. "For 60 years, Japan has worked hard to create a peaceful nation. I want to explain this is Japan's true intent and resolve any misunderstandings."

China's increasing regional clout has also heightened the territorial tensions.

In July, Japan's Coast Guard issued warnings to a Chinese ship for conducting a survey near the disputed Diaoyutai, or Senkaku, islands. It was the first such warning since 2004. China brushed off Japan's claim, saying China has "indisputable sovereignty" over the islands.

Last month, Tokyo and Seoul failed to reach an agreement on their sea borders as well.

Talks broke down because both sides demanded they be allowed to use the Takeshima-Dokdo islets for their respective claims to exclusive rights over rich fishing grounds and possible deposits of methane hydrate, which can be used to produce natural gas.

In April, South Korea dispatched gunboats to fend off an attempt by Japan to survey the area. South Korea has stationed a small detachment of police on the otherwise uninhabited islets, effectively controlling them.

North Korea's threats to conduct a nuclear test, meanwhile, have added a new dimension to the visit.

North Korea said through its state media that it will conduct a test, but did not specify when. The North claims to have nuclear weapons, but hasn't performed any known test to prove it.

"North Korea's threat of conducting a nuclear test thrust it to the forefront of the meetings between Japan and China," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk, pparticularly because North Korea has made its demands clear that Pyongyang wants financial sanctions lifted and bilateral talks with the U.S., and the North Korean leadership believes that both the new Japanese Prime Minister and the Chinese leadership have an interest in diffusing the crisis."

Six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions have been stalled for almost a year, and North Korea says it needs an atomic arsenal to deter a possible attack from the United States. China — the North's most important ally — and Japan are both members of the six-way talks.

The North's threat of a test has brought strong criticism.

"North Korea must not conduct nuclear tests," Abe said before his departure. "We need to transmit a message to North Korea that unless it revokes its test plans, it will face further isolation from international society and its situation will deteriorate."

China has called on North Korea to show "calm" and return to the multilateral talks to avoid "actions that intensify tensions." Tokyo spearheaded a push in the United Nations Security Council to issue a statement urging Pyongyang to cancel the test and return to the talks immediately.

Even so, officials in Tokyo said a test could come at virtually any time and confirmed Japan was stepping up its surveillance.

Japan has two intelligence-gathering satellites and launched a third in September that can monitor the North's nuclear weapons and missile programs. On Thursday, a U.S. military plane capable of detecting radiation took off from Okinawa in southern Japan, according to media reports.