Campus protests as China's Hu courts Japan public

By Yoko Kubota Reuters - Thursday, May 8 10:21 am

TOKYO (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao, on a symbolic visit to cement warming ties with Japan, urged the two Asian powers to look to the future as partners not rivals, but protests outside even as he spoke suggested some bumps ahead.

Hu wants to build goodwill after a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, when they agreed to focus on cooperation after years of rancour over Japanese wartime aggression.

In a speech at Tokyo's elite Waseda University, Hu touched on Japan's 1931-1945 invasion and occupation of part of China, saying the "unfortunate history caused not only great misfortune among Chinese people but also great suffering for the Japanese people.

"To remember history is not to nurse hatred, but to use history as a mirror and look forward to the future. Cherish peace, safeguard peace, let Chinese people and Japanese people be friends generation by generation," Hu said to applause, in a speech broadcast live on Japan's NHK public television.

Hu lavished praise on Japan, expressed admiration for the hardworking Japanese and urged the two countries to "recognise each other's development objectively and accurately and consider each other as partners for cooperation, not rivals ... not as threat, but an opportunity."

Both leaders want Hu's visit to be a success -- Fukuda because of low support ratings that could force him from office and Hu because he wants to shake off international pressure over unrest in Tibet that could mar the Beijing Olympics in August.

But even as Hu spoke, about 200 protesters waved signs outside the university gate saying "Free Tibet" and "No Pandas, No Poison Dumplings", the latter referring to Hu's offer to lend two pandas to a Tokyo zoo and a row over Chinese-made dumplings laced with pesticide that made several Japanese people ill.

RIVAL RALLIES

Sino-Japanese ties chilled during Junichiro Koizumi's 2001-2006 term as Japanese prime minister, when he outraged Beijing with his visits to Yasukuni Shrine for the war dead, seen in much of Asia as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

They have since improved, and experts said the main purpose of what is only the second state visit by a Chinese leader was to cement a shift to friendlier ties by the Asian rivals, closely linked by trade and investment despite rows over the past.

"The fact that the visit is taking place is an achievement," said Andrew Horvat, a professor at Tokyo Keizai University.

Many ordinary citizens in both countries, though, are wary of the other nation, while anti-Chinese feelings among some Japanese have been stirred by Beijing's reaction to Tibetan unrest.

"I just want to say 'Free Tibet'. I want to say 'No' to China's oppression of human rights," said 29-year-old Atsushi Hanazawa, who carried a guitar along with a Tibetan flag.

Some Waseda students were more concerned about getting to class. "I can't get through the gate. It's a pain," said 18-year-old Takuhiro Waki of the protest.

About two dozen right-wing activists yelled anti-Chinese slogans such as "Hu Jintao, Go Back to China". Earlier, some right-wing Waseda alumni protested against Hu's speech in a blog.

Nearby around 50 Chinese students held their own rally, yelling "Go, China" in Chinese, "Sino-Japanese Friendship" in Japanese, and "Yes, We Can" in English.

"When I hear the anti-Chinese slogans, I feel that the Chinese people's character has been maligned," said 28-year-old Chinese graduate student Cao Shunrui.

But he added that the leaders' summit was positive. "The most important thing is moves to understand each other," he said.

"VERY STRATEGIC"

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang dismissed the protests as the actions of a small handful of individuals that would "not stop the development of China-Japan relations and won't undermine the China-Japan friendship".

Hu is also seeking to convince his own sceptical citizens that the two nations should draw closer, and on Thursday he stressed that his country had much to learn from Japan.

The latest stage of Hu's trip, which lasts until Saturday, began with breakfast with former Japanese prime ministers.

Koizumi did not attend.

Hu later shed his suit jacket to play ping-pong at Waseda with popular players from both countries, but Fukuda, 71, declined to pick up a paddle.

"I'm glad I didn't play ping-pong with him," Fukuda told reporters. "He's very strategic. I thought you can't be too careful."

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley, Teruaki Ueno and Chisa Fujioka in Tokyo and Lindsay Beck in Beijing; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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