Doubts remain after Japan PM visits China

By Teruaki Ueno

QUFU, China (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda concluded a feel-good visit to China on Sunday with a stop at the birthplace of Confucius, but the outlook for better relations could be dampened by his dwindling domestic clout.

Fukuda, whose father clinched a landmark peace treaty with Beijing as prime minister in 1978, received red-carpet hospitality from Chinese leaders, but was unable to settle a bitter row over natural resources in the East China Sea.

"My visit to China this time was very meaningful. I had in-depth discussions with Chinese leaders," Fukuda told reporters after visiting Qufu in northeastern China, the birthplace of Confucius.

The ancient sage is revered in Japan as well as China.

"There will be nothing good for the region and the world unless Japan and China have cooperative relations."

During the four-day trip, Fukuda spoke to students, chatted with Chinese workers at a Toyota factory and tossed a baseball with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

"The visit is affecting ties positively, although it was not a home-run," said Takeshi Inoguchi, a political science professor at Tokyo's Chuo University.

Japan's Asahi newspaper predicted Fukuda's China summit would eventually help to resolve pending issues.

"There is no need to become pessimistic. Of course one cannot solve difficult issues with just words," Asahi said in editorial.

The English-language China Daily also sounded an optimistic note.

"As bilateral relations turn for the better, the government has been going out of its way to grant preferential treatment to Fukuda," the paper said in editorial.

But Japanese media and analysts said the friendly mood contrasted with a lack of substantive progress on sticky feuds.

The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over how to exploit natural gas in the East China Sea as they differ on where the dividing line between their exclusive economic zones in the area should lie.

SHAKY GROUND AT HOME

"The gas field issue is one of the biggest concerns for the two countries, but their leaders failed to resolve it," said Yasuhiko Yoshida, a professor of international politics at Osaka University of Economics and Law.