Publics still cool as Japan, China pursue warm ties

By Linda Sieg and Chris Buckley

TOKYO (Reuters) - China and Japan agreed amid fanfare this week that friendly ties are vital, but a pair of pandas and ping-pong diplomacy aren't enough to erase the deep distrust that could yet derail the detente between the Asian rivals.

Chinese President Hu Jintao's rare state visit was meant to cement warming relations between two countries that are closely linked by trade and investment but long divided by a bitter wartime past and regional rivalry.

Stronger bilateral ties would help their economies -- China is Japan's biggest trading partner, and Japan is a big source of much-needed investment and technology in China -- but it could also shore up regional security.

"The revival of Asia cannot do without cooperation between China and Japan," Hu said in a speech at Tokyo's Waseda University on Thursday in which he reiterated his consistent message that the two countries must look forward, not back.

Hu's speech mentioned -- but did not dwell on -- Japan's 1931-45 military aggression in China, a stark contrast to the harsh rebukes over history delivered by predecessor Jiang Zemin during the last state visit by a Chinese leader a decade ago.

Eager to court a Japanese public suspicious of China's rising clout, Hu also offered to lend two pandas to a Tokyo zoo and showed off his ping-pong prowess, but not everyone was impressed.

"The president came and said the relationship is friendly, but it kind of seems that's just on the surface," said Japanese salaryman Katsushi Harasawa, 24. "Things don't change so easily."

That was also the nearly unanimous assessment by experts in both Beijing and Tokyo of Hu's visit, set to end on Saturday with sightseeing at temples in Japan's ancient capital of Nara.