With Hu Visit, Leaders Look to Continue Thaw in Japan-China Relations

With Hu Visit, Leaders Look to Continue Thaw in Japan-China Relations

TOKYO -- Next week's scheduled visit to Japan by Chinese President Hu Jintao is the latest evidence of a continuing thaw in the two countries' relations, which only three years ago were decidedly icy.

The Japan-China relationship reached a low point in April 2005, when thousands of Chinese across the country, outraged by Japan's approval of textbooks that critics say played down Japanese aggression in World War II, joined a series of anti-Japan protests. Some of the protests turned violent, with attacks on shops selling Japanese products and the stoning of Japanese consulates.

"Things were pretty bad," said Maria Hsia Chang, professor of political science emerita at the University of Nevada Reno.

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