The Rides and Tours

Japanese opinion is no longer so subservient. Aid to China has ended, and Mr Koizumi, fearful of challenge to his Liberal Democratic Party on the Right, is in no hurry to visit Beijing. Trade is flourishing, as is Japanese investment in China, regardless of Beijing’s bluster. But the economic relationship could well be threatened. Mr Koizumi must prove that he is a genuine reformer by finding a different ceremony to honour the nation’s war dead and to ensure that the annual ritual of textbook tension is brought to an end. Meanwhile, China’s leaders must understand that they will be the ultimate losers if they encourage a marauding mob mentality.