For the past decade, the sour relations between the two countries have been felt adversely in the region, with chilling effects on other, broader schemes including the building of an East Asia community.

Wen's softer and gentle approach to Japan gave reassurance that, at the very least, China-Japan relations in future will not slip into a state of anarchy as they used to be in the past. Both countries have learned the hard way and realised painfully that their diplomatic ties are not a zero-sum game, especially when the Southeast Asian region and beyond is taken into consideration.

During his speech to the Diet, the Chinese leader said openly that Japan had apologised for its wartime past and urged it to match words with concrete actions. As such, he has put the ball in Tokyo's court.

This is a good opportunity for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who previously made visits to the Yasukuni Shrine a national issue, to prove that his popularity and leadership were not dependent on the controversy.

Most importantly, Wen also reiterated the importance of Japanese assistance to China by thanking his hosts. Of late, there has been increasing public demand in Japan to end official assistance to China because Beijing had showed no appreciation at all of Tokyo's help in the past. The Chinese leader's acknowledgement of Japanese aid this time will go a long way and facilitate, if need be, Japan's future assistance, especially from now until the Olympic Games next year.

Within the region, Asean has much to gain from the warming of China-Japan relations. For years it has been juggling these ties capriciously. Whenever the Asian giants are not on speaking terms, Asean, which maintains close cooperation with both, inadvertently suffers. No Asean country wants to have to choose between China and Japan.

Asean displayed its true colours when Japan bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2005, as China was out in full force to block it. This placed all the Asean members in a huge dilemma - whether to support Tokyo and risk Beijing's ire, or vice versa. As it turned out, Asean as a whole gave only lukewarm support to Japan's ambition, though a few members were more supportive.

Tokyo's carefully crafted heart-to-heart diplomacy towards Asean over the past three decades was shattered by Asean's reaction. Later, for the first time, Tokyo began to lament about its useless "one-sided" love with Asean. That sort of sentiment did not last very long, because Japan really values its ties with Asean. Just last month, Tokyo contributed US$247 million (Bt8.6 billion) to Asean for youth exchange programmes with East Asia and projects related to the Asean-Japan economic cooperation.

Notably, steadier China-Japan relations will make it harder for Asean to capitalise on their differences by playing one off against the other. Between 1995 and 2005, which coincided with the stalling of their relations, Asean effectively used the China card to extract concessions from Japan both in political and economic areas. Japan's surprise accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in 2005 and its willingness to negotiate free-trade agreements with Asean members were the result of such manoeuvres.

Individually, countries like Thailand or Indonesia will reap benefits from good China-Japan ties. It is a win-win situation. In the case of Thailand after the coup, Japan and China both accorded full diplomatic recognition in their own way. Tokyo gave a red-carpet welcome to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont during his visit early this month. Thailand and Japan also signed the much awaited free-trade agreement. At the end of May, Surayud is visiting Beijing, which will definitely demonstrate how close Thai-Chinese relations are.

If this momentum can be sustained in the long run, it will lay a firm foundation for community-building in East Asia. This year, Japan, China, Korea and their Asean friends are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their relations. Asean leaders met their three East Asian counterparts in 1997 following the economic crisis and agreed to help each other more and form a region-wide community.

Initially, they had hoped that closer cooperation would lead to the establishment of an East Asian Community (EAC). Their ambition hit a snag as China and Japan continued to bicker over historical incidents amid growing nationalism in both countries. It is hoped that their improved ties will erode existing ill feeling towards building the EAC and perhaps a clearer and bolder vision will emerge for its future.

At this juncture, China and Japan share a similar ambition and global outlook. The two desire to expand their international role to ensure peace and stability - China, as the only Asian member on the UN Security Council and Japan as the world's largest aid donor. As the 2008 Olympics draw near, Beijing is showing increased international responsibility to ensure a successful event. In recent weeks, China's positive role in the Darfur crisis has received repeated praise in Western media never before seen. Meanwhile, Japan's proactive diplomacy and strong support of international peacekeeping forces augurs well for the effort to promote a multipolar world.

 Kavi Chongkittavorn