At least Aso is going now, but his trip this time is may be too late. Chances are slim for him to make any significant positive impact on the bilateral relationship; his best chance may have come and gone as foreign minister.

What can Aso achieve with so many battles on the domestic front and polls showing the LDP could lose the impending election? It was widely believed Aso would call a November election but it seems the financial crisis which has also engulfed Japan (the Japanese stock market being hit harder than most Asian countries last week) has given him some breathing room. The opposition DPJ finally supporting the bill to extend the refueling mission in the Indian Ocean (a tactical retreat according to Tobias Harris) and the chance to push through a 10 trillion yen economic stimulus package might be short term domestic victories that could give him a bounce in the polls with enough momentum going into the elections.

Aso’s upcoming visit to China would be to delivered something that is not presently anticipated to build on the significance of the last few bilateral leadership visits. There is a chance that the powerful Japanese bureaucracy pushes an initiative through but their power in running the country has waned. More likely the visit, from a leader who could be one of the shortest serving PMs in Japanese history (a bold claim given recent experience!), will be a small blip on the radar screen of current Sino-Japanese relations.