Japan and China form a new friendship during a rare visit

Japan and China signed trade agreements worth $ 2.6 billion. They touted their warmest relations on Friday during a rare visit to Beijing by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, facing the trade challenges of US President Donald Trump.

Abe met with Chinese President Xi Jinping after a full day of activities including talks with Prime Minister Li Keqiang and a guard of honor with the Japanese flag raised in front of the Great People's Palace, in front of the Tiananmen Square.

Relations between the two largest Asian economies have improved in recent years, after reaching a new low in 2012 when Tokyo "nationalized" the disputed islands claimed by Beijing.

The last official visit of a Japanese Prime Minister to Beijing was held in 2011.

But as Trump's tariffs emerge, China is increasingly using Japan to protect itself from the growing protectionism of the United States.

During their meeting, Xi told Abe that "the interdependence between the two countries was deepening day by day" and pledged to strengthen economic cooperation, according to the Communist Party Daily. .

Earlier in the day, Abe, alongside Li, said at a press conference that the two countries should "play a constructive role in the interests of peace and prosperity in this region. ".

"I am convinced that an active trade will deepen ties between Japanese and Chinese people," he said.

For his part, Li said that "international conditions are unstable and uncertainties have increased," but that economic cooperation among countries "would benefit the development of global free trade."

The relationship quickly warmed, with Trump imposing huge tariffs on China while targeting Japanese exports with the aim of reducing US trade deficits, despite his personal ties with Abe and Xi.

However, despite the good mood, Abe also delivered a harsher message, said a Japanese spokesman, warning China that "without stability in the East China Sea, there will be no real improvement in relationships".

He also told Li that "the international community, including Japan, is closely monitoring the human rights situation in China".

Trump & # 39; uncertainty & # 39;

Abe traveled with nearly 1,000 Japanese business representatives who signed 500 contracts worth $ 2.6 billion, Li said without giving details.

Companies are eager for increased access to the vast Chinese market, while Beijing is interested in Japanese technology and business know-how.

The two leaders also oversaw the signing of several political agreements, including a currency exchange agreement and a mechanism to avoid accidental clashes between their military forces that often come into contact in the China Sea. is controversial.

Hu Lingyuan, director of the Japanese Studies Center at the Chinese University of Fudan, said Trump's trade policy had helped to tighten Sino-Japanese ties.

"Uncertainty in Trump's policy led Abe to think that he could not bet solely on the United States," Hu told AFP.

"If he adjusts his relationship with China, he will have more initiative and space in the future when he will negotiate with the United States."

Chinese nationalist nationalist Global Times said in an editorial that "although the United States plays a fairly influential role in Sino-Japanese relations, its effects are limited."

"If Beijing and Tokyo intend to plan their future bilateral relationship on the basis of Washington's attitude, they will only get lost," the government paper said.

"Safeguarding Free Trade"

Abe 's three – day trip, which began on Thursday, suggests that Xi will visit Japan next year.

Since the clumsy meeting between Abe and Xi in 2014 on the sidelines of a summit, ministerial visits have taken place on both sides and a more moderate speech. Li visited Tokyo in May.

Abe and Li met on Thursday at a reception to celebrate the signing of the treaty that would restore relations between Japan and China after the Second World War.

But territorial conflicts continue to cause friction.

Just days before Abe's trip, Tokyo officially lodged a complaint after Chinese ships crisscrossed the disputed islands that Tokyo calls Senkaku and which Beijing called the Diaoyu Islands.

China has long denounced Japan for what it regarded as an attitude insufficiently contrite as to its role in the Second World War.

But before the trip, Beijing has adopted a more cordial attitude than in the past.