Japanese PM arrives in Beijing for official visit

Japanese PM arrives in Beijing for official visit
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in the Chinese capital Sunday afternoon, for his first foreign trip as leader and his first summit talks with Chinese leaders.
Shortly afterwards, Abe is scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao, respectively, before flying to Seoul early Monday for talks with President Roh Moo-hyun of the Republic of Korea (ROK).
Wen invited Abe to visit China on the premise that "China and Japan reached a consensus on overcoming the political obstacle affecting bilateral relationship and promoting friendly and cooperative relationship," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.
Abe, who took office September 26, is the first Japanese postwar prime minister who chose China as the destination of his first official overseas trip. He is also the first Japanese leader visiting China in five years as top-level visits had been halted because of Abe's predecessor Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 class-A war criminals in WWII are honored along with Japan's war dead.
While speaking of his visit to China and the ROK, Abe told a session of the House of Representatives Budget Committee on Thursday that frank exchanges of views, goals and ideals are the first step in building the "relations of trust" among the Asian neighbors.