Beijing’s decision to allow a bigger Japanese business delegation to go to China next month may be cause for some optimism but “hot economics and cold politics” will continue to dominate the strained relationship between the two countries, observers say. Kyodo news agency reported this week that Beijing had agreed to allow the Japanese Business Federation – the country’s most influential business lobby, also known as Keidanren – to expand its delegation coming to China next month. The group will...

A business delegation from northeastern China has visited a Russian-controlled, Japanese-claimed island off Hokkaido to explore joint economic projects, prompting protests from Tokyo. Officials and business leaders from Heilongjiang province, which borders Russia’s far east, travelled to Etorofu – known to Russians as Iturup – to survey potential investment opportunities, according to the Sakhalin Oblast government, which oversees the island. Etorofu is the largest island in a disputed...