Bush on SinoJapan Ties: Up to your guys

At a roundtable interview with foreign media, right before G-8 summit to be held in St. Petersburg in Russia, President Bush sat down and answered questions from print media(newspapers) journalists from Japan, Italy and other G-8 member countries.

When asked by Japanese Journalist, Masaomi, "Do you worry about it(worsening Sino-Japan relations)?", here is Mr. Bush's answer,

"Well, I would hope it would improve, is the best way to put it -- hope it would improve. I think it's an important relationship. And I can't make it improve. That's up to the parties to make it improve. I can say, I hope it improves to both parties, which I'm more than willing to do. " (White House online)

It is SHOCKING to me that Bush said, "I can't make it improve", As one of the clost friend to Mr. Koizumi, and US being the biggest trade partner to both China and Japan, the Bush administration takes a hands-off policy to such "an important relationship"(admitted by Bush himself).

There are certainly many things Mr. Bush can and should do, such as raise concerns to Koizumi about worsening SinoJapan ties, etc. As Kurt Campbell, a CSIS scholar suggested, Mr. Bush should at least raised the concern to Koizumi, that is the way close friends talk to each other.