The awkward gesture suggested deep divisions, but Chinese president Xi Jinping shook hands with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit in Beijing yesterday, in a breakthrough for relations between Asia's regional giants.
Tensions between Japan and China over disputed islands in the East China Sea and Tokyo's perceived failure to properly atone for second World War atrocities have fuelled the defining regional conflict of the past few years.
China’s growing economic power has been matched by a desire to have a more defining role in regional affairs, both political and economic.
The two countries have signed a four-point agreement to improve regional ties and Mr Xi urged Japan to "do more things that help enhance the mutual trust between Japan and its neighbouring countries, and play a constructive role in safeguarding the region's peace and stability," according to the official Xinhua news agency.
“Severe difficulties have emerged in Sino-Japanese relations in recent two years and the rights and wrongs behind them are crystal clear,” Mr Xi said.
Defining “crystal clear” is likely to be anything but crystal clear, but the handshake, however frosty, was seen as significant progress in Sino-Japanese relations.
During the Apec meeting, Mr Xi has emphasised China’s desire for greater regional co-ordination and said that China wants “to live in harmony with all its neighbours”.
While the handshake may have broken the ice, it did not contain much warmth.
On state television, Mr Abe waited for Mr Xi to arrive at the Great Hall of the People, a meaningful departure from protocol that underlines how strained relations are.
The meeting is their first since the Japanese leader took office two years ago and relations have been blighted by a number of issues.
Yasukuni Shrine
Mr Abe’s visit last year to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including war criminals, has also had a serious impact on bilateral relations.
Mr Xi said that questions about Japan’s history “bears on the national sentiment of the over 1.3 billion Chinese people, as well as regional peace, stability and development”.
Both China and Japan claim an archipelago, known as the Senkakus in Japan, to whom they officially belong, and the Diaoyus in China, which contests Japan’s ownership.
China wants assurances that Mr Abe will not repeat his 2013 visit to the shrine, which could prove problematic as key domestic supporters of the Japanese leader back him for paying his respects at the memorial.
While the two countries are major trading partners, the political tensions are proving bad for business between the world’s second and third largest economies.
So far this year, foreign direct investment from Japan is down 43 per cent.
The Japanese delegation described the talks as “gentlemenlike”.
Mr Abe told Mr Xi that “China’s peaceful development is a significant opportunity for Japan and the world.”
