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PLA vessel heads for historic Japan visit

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Port call a further sign of improved relations

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A PLA warship is heading to Japan for a historic visit aimed at easing the doubts and suspicions that remain between the nations despite improved ties.

The guided missile destroyer Shenzhen yesterday left its base in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, and is due to arrive in Japan on Wednesday for a four-day visit, Xinhua said.

The port call is seen as a major breakthrough in post-war Sino-Japanese military exchanges and a further sign of an easing in the often tense relations.

Sino-Japanese expert Gao Hong said the port call could help China erase the humiliation inflicted by Japanese militarists last century.

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'It's very significant for the PLA naval ship to pay a visit to Japan in an equal and friendly posture,' said Professor Gao, the director of Japanese politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Japanese Studies.

'There are so many areas in Sino-Japanese bilateral relations but defence and military exchanges are the most backward sector. The port call has been discussed since the 1990s, but was delayed several times due to different kinds of diplomatic disputes between the two countries.'

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