Japanese media shows mixed feelings on Sino-US ties
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[By Liu Rui/Global Times] |
Sino-US relations are the key to today's global strategic patterns. They are alternately mysterious and reckless, with the two sides clashing, then making up with handshakes and hugs. The strange nature and unspoken rules of Sino-US relations make the world an unpredictable place.
The recent Sino-US summit shine the spotlight on the US and China once again. The visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the US for the first during the Obama administration has left many people believing that the US is paying more attention to China than ever before.
This development worries Japan most. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is about to make a trip to the US. China is Japan's largest trading partner and the US is its most important military ally. Every move between China and the US deeply affects Japan.
Japan's concerns over Sino-US relations have focused on two possibilities. One is consistently highlighting the deep contradictions between the US and China, hoping that Sino-US relations will not become too close. The other is trusting that Sino-US cooperation will let China become a "responsible great power" on US-Japanese terms.
On January 21, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun published an editorial entitled "China-US summit." The editorial argued that due to the differences in value and political systems, there is an unbridgeable gulf between China and the US no matter how hard they work to strengthen cooperation.
The Asahi Shimbun pointed out that for a rapidly rising power like China and a country like the US, the sole superpower for years, it is not easy to go beyond a competitive adversarial relationship.
It went on to claim that on many issues such as food, energy, nuclear arms reduction, and global warming countermeasures, the US and China need to put aside minor differences so as to seek common ground and deepen mutually trusting relationship to make a common response.
On the same day, the Yomiuri Shimbun published two editorials: "The Sino-US summit benefits stability in the Asia-Pacific region" and "Rising dragon, China faces many challenges."
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