China's Hu turns to table tennis diplomacy in Japan

By Chisa Fujioka

TOKYO (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao's campaign to woo a wary Japan shifts from the summit podium to ballet dancers, university students and perhaps a ping-pong table on Thursday for a day of diplomatic theatre.

In the middle of a five-day state visit, the Chinese leader is seeking to build goodwill after his summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, when they agreed to focus on cooperation after years of rancor over Japanese wartime aggression.

Hu and Fukuda said on Wednesday they were on track to settle a volatile feud over undersea gas.

But experts said the main purpose of what is only the second state visit by a Chinese leader was to cement a shift to friendlier ties between the Asian rivals, linked by trade and investment but long divided by rows over a bitter wartime past.

"The fact that the visit is taking place is an achievement," said Andrew Horvat, a professor at Tokyo Keizai University.

"It's a breakthrough, and at the same time it is also the culmination of an incremental process that began when Koizumi stepped down," he said.

Sino-Japanese ties chilled during Junichiro Koizumi's 2001-2006 term as Japanese prime minister when he outraged Beijing with his yearly visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead, seen in much of Asia as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Both leaders need the summit to be a success, Fukuda because he faces low public support ratings that could force him from office, and Hu because he wants to shake off international pressure over unrest in Tibet that could mar the Beijing Olympics in August.

Tibet was back in focus on Thursday when the Olympic torch was lit at the top of Mount Everest, the crowning moment of a relay which had been dogged by protests on its world tour.

BREAKFAST, BALLET, PING-PONG

Japanese media generally welcomed Hu's efforts to ease

worries about his country's economic rise, military ambitions, growing exports and tainted dumplings, but lamented the lack of concrete results and pointed to risks ahead.

"More than anything, the fact that pragmatism was placed in the forefront by both leaders, Fukuda and Hu, is the significance of this summit," the Asahi newspaper said in an editorial.

"But no matter how many beautiful words are lined up, what is important is whether or not these are reflected in real policies. If one looks at the problems between the two countries, this will not be easy," the paper said.

The latest stage of Hu's trip, which lasts until Saturday, began with breakfast with former Japanese prime ministers. Koizumi did not attend, and one Japanese government source told Reuters the decision to stay away was Koizumi's own.