Visits offer opportunities

Though China and Japan are not out of the crisis, recent developments seem to show signs that neither wants to see the current confrontation over the Diaoyu islands spiral out of control.

Japan's New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi started his Beijing trip on Tuesday. He is the first Japanese party leader to visit China since the previous administration's "nationalization" of three of China's Diaoyu Islands last September, a move that pushed bilateral relations to their lowest point since the two countries normalized their ties in 1972.

In an interview with a Hong Kong television program on Monday, Yamaguchi recommended that the two countries shelve the island dispute since they can't find a solution that is satisfactory to both.