Until five years ago, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been referred to in Beijing as “not welcome Person”. In this respect, his visit is a sign that the Sino-Japanese relationship, something fundamental has changed. At the start of his three-day visit, Abe spoke on Thursday night to lift the relationship “to a new level”. The Chinese Prime Minister, Li Keqiang, invited Japan to take part in the Chinese Initiative of the New silk road. This Friday the Japanese meets for talks with China’s President Xi Jinping.

Friederike Böge

Political correspondent for East Asia.

F. A. Z.

It is the first bilateral summit, the second – and third-largest economy in the world for seven years. Dozens of letters of intent for economic cooperation are to be signed, for example in the automotive, energy, health and infrastructure sector. Shinzo Abe has arrived with a Delegation of 500 business people and government representatives.

Politically, the Meeting is seen primarily as a confidence-building measure. An important Signal to have set both countries back in June, when they set up a military Hotline to produce unwanted collisions. Six years ago, was in Beijing to violent demonstrations in front of the Japanese Embassy, the official body endorsed, if not encouraged. Background of the territorial dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, which is still unsolved.

the unaufgearbeitete war past rests more on the relationships. The fight against the Japanese occupiers is part of the founding myth of the Communist party of China. Still running the Chinese state every evening, history television dramas about the war. In Japan, in turn, is concerned about China’s expansive foreign policy and military demonstrations of Power in the Region.