A chance to overcome historical obstacles

The importance of today's China- Japan summit - the first for five years - is that it is happening at all. The obstacle that historical disputes pose to better relations still looms large. We were reminded of this on the eve of the meeting by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's technical but unhelpful insistence that Japanese war leaders tried by the Allies were not war criminals - at least, not under domestic law at the time.

President Hu Jintao , Premier Wen Jiabao and National People's Congress chairman Wu Bangguo will meet Mr Abe today because the two countries have reached a breakthrough - agreeing that the long impasse over historical disputes which has hindered the development of a friendly and co-operative bilateral relationship must be overcome. The catalyst was Mr Abe's election as prime minister to succeed Junichiro Koizumi, who was seen as a 'political obstacle' to improved relations. Beijing froze out Mr Koizumi because of his repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honours Japan's war dead including 14 class-A war criminals.

Mr Abe's succession and his overtures for an early summit represented an opportunity for rebuilding mutual trust that had to be seized quickly. Mr Abe has been an enthusiastic supporter of worship at the shrine in the past. But remarks interpreted as a departure from his predecessor's hardline stance have been well received in Beijing. Still, other comments in the last few days reflected ambivalence in Japan about atoning for wartime aggression in the name of good relations with former enemies. Therefore, a lot is riding on today's summit if historical disputes are not to continue getting in the way.

The summit is a chance to lay the foundations for an end to a worryingly dysfunctional relationship between the region's two superpowers. Japan may remain a security ally of the United States, but China is now its biggest trading partner. A positive bilateral relationship is important for the stability, security and prosperity of the region. A case in point is one pressing issue to be raised by Japan at today's meeting - North Korea's announcement that it may test a nuclear weapon at any time. The threat comes less than three months after the UN Security Council condemned North Korea for conducting missile tests over the Sea of Japan, known to Koreans as the East Sea. Friend and neighbour China has deplored North Korea's announcement and warned of serious consequences, but called for restraint in dealing with it, implying that persuasion would achieve more than tough action such as UN sanctions backed by the United States.

Japan naturally feels jittery about the prospect of Pyongyang having a nuclear weapon. Mr Abe will appeal to the Chinese leaders to use their influence to persuade Pyongyang to abandon the proposed test and return to the negotiating table in the six-party talks sponsored by China on North Korea's nuclear programme.

There is little doubt China has the leverage to do this, although mainland sources have tried to play it down. There is speculation Beijing used aid or threats to oil deliveries to persuade its ally to sit down at the negotiating table in the first place. The United States too has a role to play to coax North Korea back to the table. Pyongyang walked out on the talks after the US imposed or demanded sanctions on banks dealing with North Korea.