Mr. Wen, This Way...

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is in Tokyo, on a trip widely applaud as"ice-breaking". With his easy smile, Wen Jiabao is certainly able to win some hearts or even minds in Tokyo and Kyoto, where he will be going to talk to a group of university students. However, the gap(溝） between China and Japan is so deep and wide, can he achieve the goal of breaking ice?

Being a minimalist myself, I like paying attention to details, and I have to say that I was concerned by Wen's first day performance.

I checked out a TBS news clip online, and was impressed by how different Chinese and Japanese behave, when Wen was escorted by Abe and entered the door of a meeting room, he immediately turned to an opposite direction, with a big smile on his face. After a "yell" from Abe, Wen eventually turned around and followed his host to the designated seat.

Familiar to you? If you have read my post on Chinese president Hu Jintao's visit to Washington last spring, you will immediately identify Wen with Hu.

I hope the event is not a indication that China and Japan are so interdependent, like two people on a boat, yet the differences are so huge that they row the boat to different directions.