Strengthening a fragile detente, Japanese and Chinese leaders meeting in Tokyo pledged Wednesday to work together on North Korea, energy development and the environment while defusing thorny disputes over history and territory. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Japan on Wednesday in the first visit by a Chinese leader in nearly seven years, building on a trip by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Beijing last year to salvage seriously damaged ties, according to AP. The two declared firm intentions to move forward on rebuilding relations, signing agreements on energy and the environment and issuing a joint statement that laid out a series of issues for the countries to cooperate on. «We must build future-oriented and stable Japan-China relations,» Abe said at a banquet in Wen's honor after the meeting. «We want to expand our common interests through strengthening dialogue in various fields.» Wen said he expected his three-day visit to be a success. «We must keep up the momentum toward building friendly ties that have been forged between the governments and peoples of the two countries,» he said. «Japan and China are at a crossroads where we must inherit the past while opening up the future.» They signed a series of agreements. An environmental accord called for the two to work on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change by 2013. China's emissions are not capped under the Kyoto pact, but they are a rising concern as the economy rapidly expands. The other agreement committed Japan and China to cooperate on developing energy resources. -- SPA
