HONG KONG — As Russian President Vladimir Putin cut a swath through East Asia recently, visiting China, North Korea, Japan and the Russian Far East in a breathless seven days, he gave plenty of indications of the ways in which Russia is likely to change under his leadership.
First and last, Putin's Russia will exude a very different image — if only because he will be far more image-conscious than his predecessors. One incident at the tail end of his trip, as Putin was leaving the Group of Eight meeting in Okinawa, told the story.
Putin not only bothered to visit an Okinawan sports center, but he took off his shoes and coat, faced off against a young Japanese, threw him to the mat — and then allowed himself to be also thrown.