Several hundred Chinese sailors welcomed the destroyer Sazanami by holding up signs with slogans and chanting praises for bilateral relations as ordered by their commanders.
The Sazanami's visit is in exchange for a port call made by the Chinese missile destroyer Shenzhen to Tokyo in November 2007, the first port call by a Chinese warship in Japan since 1891.
Will the two Big Dragons make up and be friends after all? Not so fast.
The exchange of visits by warships can be viewed as proof of improving relations between the two countries resulting from a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao in early May in Tokyo.
Importantly, China agreed to welcome the warship of a potential adversary barely a month after it refused to allow Japanese C-130 planes carrying relief aid for the victims of the devastating May 12 earthquake in Guangzhou to land in the province.
Is this a good sign? Japanese officials say the visit is the first positive development after many years of misunderstanding.
It will "help enhance the friendship and mutual trust between the two countries," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao has said.
However, the Japanese defense department is displeased with some aspects of the visit, which is understandable since details and gestures have always been important in the Far East.
First, this concerns the choice of a place. The Japanese destroyer docked at the port of Zhanjiang in China's southern Guangdong Province, to the west of Hong Kong. Why didn't China allowed the destroyer to dock in Beijing if the Chinese missile cruiser was allowed to call at the Tokyo port? Japan assumes China is not playing fair.
Another point of discord is the Japanese relief aid to the victims of the Guangzhou earthquake. The Japanese Navy has always helped victims of natural disasters. In February 2001, the destroyer Amagiri, which went to India for India's 50th independence day, brought blankets and medicines for earthquake victims. The Indian government was grateful for the gesture.
The destroyer Sazanami brought 300 blankets and 2,600 emergency canned meals for the Guangzhou victims, but China said this was not relief aid but "compassionate gifts."
Why play with words when the point is assistance for victims? - the Japanese Navy asks.
Tokyo says China has been increasing its defense spending during the past 20 years, including an increase of 10% in 2007. Referring to the United States' stance, the Japanese authorities insist that China's spending should be more transparent and that Beijing should announce the true goal of its military buildup.
In April this year, China deployed a nuclear-powered missile submarine at a naval base in the south. China can also use Russian and locally made fighters against Japan's F-15 planes, and has recently tested an intermediate-range missile that can reach Japan.
Taken together, this indicates China is working to become a strong, if not the strongest, regional power, strong enough to take on more than just Taiwan.
Japanese Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba warned at a news conference against thinking that the latest development had thawed the ice in Sino-Japanese relations.
Tokyo is not convinced when Chinese diplomats say the Japanese warship's visit is a harbinger of peace which they welcome wholeheartedly. According to Japan, China's efforts to increase its gold and currency reserves, dominate other countries economically and modernize its armed forces are a global hazard.
Japan will most likely try to win the support of the United States in bringing pressure to bear on China after the November presidential elections. But some Japanese analysts say Washington is too busy in the Middle East to do more than just symbolic gestures regarding North Korea's nuclear problem in the Far East.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
