Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, visiting China, went on an all-out charm offensive, displaying a new-found neighbourly warmth even as hard issues continue to dog ties.

With no better symbol than a bit of baseball diplomacy, Mr Fukuda and Mr Wen tossed and batted in front of cameras for 20 minutes after breakfast at the Diaoyutai state guest house yesterday.

On a high-profile 'ice-thawing' visit to Japan in April, Mr Wen was a hit among the Japanese as he played baseball with students, jogged through a Tokyo park and mingled with locals.

Yesterday's game followed a request by the 71-year-old Japanese leader during the premiers' 'heart-to-heart dialogue' on Friday.

Beyond clinching deals on his four-day visit - his first to Beijing since taking office in September - the pro-China Mr Fukuda has called for building a new bond of trust, replacing the deep-seated animosity that bedevils ties between them.

Indeed, Mr Fukuda is 'very happy' to have cemented 'very good personal contacts, relations with the Chinese leaders' on the trip, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsuo Sakabam said yesterday.

But as he stood stiffly among Chinese pupils on a visit to a Beijing school yesterday, Mr Fukuda must have found it hard to find the grassroots touch that made Mr Wen so popular with the Japanese.

Mr Fukuda, a bland, elderly Japanese veteran politician, is no natural charmer, observers note.

China-Japan expert Gui Yongtao of Beijing University told The Sunday Times: 'It's simply not his style to be populist. He's a traditional Japanese politician with an elite flavour, not the popular touch.'

But the 'intellectual and practical' Mr Fukuda has helped 'stabilise ties' and impressed his Chinese audience in other important ways, said Dr Gui, who watched Mr Fukuda deliver a 40-minute speech at his university on Friday.

In the speech, which was broadcast live in China, Mr Fukuda showed humility and a good grasp of the Chinese national sentiment with his message that Japan will 'look squarely' at and reflect on its war-time past, said Dr Gui.

And the feel-good public relations efforts by both sides on Mr Fukuda's visit will provide a friendlier setting for tackling long-standing disputes such as that over gas resources in the East China Sea, he added.

'The mutual trust and understanding that the two sides lack can't be built over one or two trips by the top leaders,' said Dr Gui.

Mr Fukuda and Mr Wen stressed that it will be up to the next generation of regular Chinese and Japanese to reach that goal.

Zhuang Ming, 11, a pupil who played interpreter to Mr Fukuda at her school yesterday, agreed. 'I have many Japanese friends. They're not that different from us. We just need to get to know each other better,' she said.

Mr Fukuda, who also met Chinese President Hu Jintao and parliament chief Wu Bangguo on Friday, visited the northern port city of Tianjin yesterday. His visit concludes with a stop at the tomb of Chinese philosopher Confucius in Qufu, a city in Shandong province, today.

simcy@sph.com.sg