Next Tuesday's five-day visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao would have been one of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's finest moments. But now the summit appears to be a high-risk event fraught with diplomatic danger.
Although Fukuda is a well-known advocate of nurturing friendly ties with Asian neighbors, particularly China, a food-poisoning mystery, an energy dispute and anger over China's crackdown in Tibet have compromised his political stock in the past few months and deeply damaged public sentiment toward China.
During the Hu-Fukuda summit Wednesday, China is expected to show appreciation for Japan's call for setting goals for cutting carbon dioxide emissions, and, if all goes well, promise to provide a pair of panda bears to replace Ling Ling, the giant panda who grew to symbolize friendly Sino-Japanese ties, Japanese government officials said. The bear died Wednesday at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo.