Chinese President Hu Jintao's five-day visit to Japan, which concluded on Saturday, included pandas, ping-pong and poisoned dumplings on the agenda, among other things. This was the second state visit by a Chinese president to Japan, after President Jiang Zemin's disastrous visit in 1998.
During his visit, Jintao met Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Emperor Akihito, and prominent political and business leaders. He also addressed students at Tokyo's elite Waseda University and wowed the audience with an impromptu game of table tennis. He also offered to lend a pair of pandas to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo!
The visit is crucial for both Jintao and Fukuda. While the Chinese president is eager to do some damage control after international concern over the Tibet unrest, the Japan PM is trying to boost his sagging popularity by pulling off this diplomatic coup.
Image: Chinese President Hu Jintao (left) greets Japanese Emperor Akihito in Tokyo.
Photograph: Toru Yamanaka-Pool/Getty Images
Also read: The China-Japan row
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