In the past 1,000 years, it was Japan that most of the time learnt from China and paid tribute to Chinese emperors. This pattern was reversed after the Meiji Restoration of the 1860s. Relative national strength shifted so dramatically that Japan tried to colonise its huge neighbour by military force. But in the past three decades, the pendulum seems to have swung again in Beijing's favour, thus creating a 'China threat' phobia in Japan.

What Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Premier Yasuo Fukuda did last Wednesday when they signed their joint communique, the fourth since 1972, was to express the wish that peaceful coexistence between two equally strong neighbours was a possibility.

This was the message of Article 4 of the document, which stressed that both nations are to be 'cooperative partners that will not be a threat to each other'.

This is the first time in their bilateral relationship that their mutual innate suspicion has been addressed in an official document. The significance of Article 4 lies in its attempt to break the curse of historical fatalism that has plagued relations between China and Japan.

The two also pledged to forge a 'strategic relationship based on mutual benefit'. This means China's growth can be perceived in Japan as an opportunity.

In a clear departure from the past, the joint statement said little about history. Japan was relieved that Mr Hu did not ask it to reflect on the past.

Instead, the document used a softer, vaguer expression, urging both countries to 'squarely face up to history'. This is the same phrase Mr Fukuda had used when he addressed Beijing University last December. Compare this with the third joint declaration when China's then president Jiang Zemin visited Tokyo in 1998. That said that Japan was 'keenly conscious of the responsibility'- and expressed 'deep remorse' - for its wartime aggression in China.

Mr Jiang had initially wanted an 'apology' to be included in the 1998 joint statement but Japan refused. The final text simply said Japan 'observes' the 1995 statement by then prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, who had expressed his 'heartfelt apology' for Tokyo's wartime aggression and colonial rule over its Asian neighbours.

Japan's refusal to apologise in 1998 led to a downward spiral in bilateral ties.

Mr Hu chose to address the history issue, which no Chinese leader can avoid, at Tokyo's Waseda University. China will retain its memories of the war not for the sake of animosity, but for the sake of building future relations based on the lessons of the past, he said.

To his host's delight, the joint communique also evaluated positively Japan's post-war years as a 'peace nation'. No previous Chinese leader had publicly acceded to such a statement before.

Mr Hu also allowed the Taiwan issue to be treated in a less oppressive manner. Japan was merely asked to reiterate the principles it announced in three previous communiques without having to spell out in specific terms its opposition to the island's independence.

On territorial disputes, notably the demarcation of the East China Sea, both merely expressed their wish to turn it into an area for mutual cooperation, avoiding the touchy question of sovereignty.

The message is clear. History, Taiwan and territory, these issues are not amenable to easy solution and should not tarnish future Sino-Japanese ties. China wants to move on.

It hopes its concessions in the fourth joint communique can remove Japan's 'China threat'. If Japan is neutralised, the thinking goes, the pressure on China from the developed world wary of its growing muscle would be much reduced.

This is the essence of Mr Hu's 'forward-looking diplomacy' towards Japan, says Professor Liu Jiangyong of the Institute for International Studies of the Qinghua University.

To many Chinese, however, Mr Hu is merely trying to sweep the dirt under the carpet. This sentiment is very obvious in a casual scan of Internet chatrooms.

Many netizens take issue with the statement that the two countries should 'not be a threat to each other'. That presumes China could threaten Japan, a supposition not borne out by historical facts, netizens point out.Who has threatened whom? What is the nature of the threat? These are among the issues in chatrooms.

'Without addressing these issues while tacitly admitting it is a threat to Japan, the Chinese leader is insulting his own people,' wrote one of the more militant netizens.

Perhaps the biggest challenge to Mr Hu's forward-looking diplomacy regarding Japan comes from within China. Only time can tell if he can put an end to the historical fatalism that has long characterised bilateral relations.

chingcheong@gmail.com