Prime Minister Taro Aso arrived in China for a two-day visit on April 29, his first visit to the country. Reports noted that the visit was aimed at laying stronger foundations for cooperation between the historic Asian rivals, amidst the global economic and health crises1. Both sides agreed to work together to promote macroeconomic policies based on domestic demand, take steps to deter protectionism and assist other Asian nations in their recovery efforts from the global financial crisis by promoting their respective domestic demand2.

Japan stated that it had no problems with South Korea's plans to launch a rocket carrying its first satellite which may fly over Japanese territory3.

Tokyo also unveiled an 11-point initiative to achieve a nuclear-free world, including a call for the imposition of "effective global restrictions" on North Korea's ballistic missile development and a plan to hold an international conference in Japan early next year on global nuclear disarmament4.

In other developments, Japan agreed in principle to extend around ¥80 billion in fresh loans to Iraq for three infrastructure-related projects5.

• 1. “Japan PM arrives in China amid global crises,” Associate Foreign Press, April 29, 2009, at http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090429/wl_afp/chinajapandiplomacy_20090429...
• 2. “China, Japan agree to lead Asia through financial crisis,” Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, May 2, 2009, at http://mb.com.ph/articles/204551/china-japan-agree-lead-asia-through-fin...
• 3. “Japan sees no problem in S. Korea rocket launch: govt,” Space Daily, April 22, 2009, at http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Japan_sees_no_problem_in_SKorea_rocket...
• 4. “Japan unveils 11-point initiative for nuke-free world,” Associated Press, April 27, 2009, at http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D97QNCRO1&show_article=1
• 5. “¥80 billion in loans OK'd for Iraq” Japan Times, May 3, 2009 at http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090503a7.html