Strategic patience needed to deal with Japan

Have China-Japan relations improved after President Xi Jinping met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year? The ups and downs in Sino-Japanese relations since that fateful meeting are the result of the fickleness of Abe, who is a conservative.

Conservatives like Abe have not only disagreements with China on historical issues, but also value conflicts with the United States. Abe's diplomacy is restricted by ideology, because his diplomacy is fickle, a byproduct of Japan's domestic policies. But his understanding of Japan's interests seems to be based on realism.

Whether or not the Abe administration enjoys solid support at home directly influences its China policy. Abe stopped visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which honors, among others, 14 Class-A war criminals, after he was elected prime minister for the first time in 2006. Even though China-Japan relations improved after he first became prime minister, his decision was not aimed at improving bilateral ties. What he really wanted was to be re-elected on the strength of his efforts to improve Japan's relations with China.