Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan will pay official visits to Japan and the Philippines from August 29 to September 6, the Chinese Defense Ministry announced yesterday.
"The visits aim to fulfill the consensus reached between leaders of China and the two countries, improve understanding, develop friendship, as well as reinforce communication and trust in the defense and security fields," said the statement.
Cao has been invited by his Japanese counterpart Yuriko Koike and Philippine Secretary of Defence Gilbert Teodoro.
The visit to Japan will be the first by China's top defense official in nine years - former defense minister Chi Haotian visited Japan in 1998. The last such visit to the Philippines was in 2002.
According to Japanese media reports, Cao will stay in Japan for five days, and meet Koike on August 30.
Cao and Koike are expected to discuss reciprocal visits of the Chinese navy and Japanese maritime self-defense forces, and the setting up of a hotline between the two countries' defense authorities, Japanese media said, citing unidentified government sources.
It is also reported that Cao will inspect Japan's Self-Defense Forces.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed with Chinese leaders to boost bilateral defense exchanges when he visited China last year.
Zhu Feng, a scholar with the School of International Studies of Peking University, sees the Japan visit as "another important signal of the thawing of Sino-Japanese relations", which follows Abe's visit to China last October and Premier Wen's visit to Japan in April.
"However, there are still potential conflicts at the strategic level, for instance, the 'Broader Asia' plan, which aims to isolate China," said Zhu.
On Wednesday, Abe - on a visit to India - called for the establishment of a "Broader Asia", which brings together powers such as Japan, India, the United States and Australia. He did not mention China in the partnership.
Source: China Daily
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