A hiatus from harsh words this week?

TOKYO — It was provocative talk for the eve of a summit that Japan and China are billing as a fresh start to a rocky relationship.

In a speech last week, a senior member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government compared China to a “thief” because of its exploratory drilling of undersea natural gas deposits in an area of the East China Sea claimed by Japan.

And in Beijing, Premier Wen Jiabao pushed Abe into a corner, saying he expects an end to visits by Japanese prime ministers to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine that is so revered by the current leadership in Tokyo. “I hope it will never happen again,” Wen told Japanese reporters in comments that were seen in Japan as a warning to Abe.

Yet despite the sharp rhetoric, smiles are expected to be firmly in place for Wen’s arrival in Tokyo on Wednesday, the first time a Chinese premier has visited Japan since October 2000. Asia’s two biggest economic powers may have much to quarrel about, from discordant interpretations of their bloody last century to their rivalry for influence in 21st century Asia.

But for now, leaders in both countries seem eager for a breather from the seven-year standoff that has stirred nationalist ghosts on both sides.

“Neither side wants history to stand in the way of better relations,” said Huang Dahui, an international studies expert at People’s University in Beijing. “Both sides realize that Sino-Japanese cooperation is critical to the future of the East Asian region.”

The summit is designed to reinforce the improved ties stemming from last October, when the newly elected Abe shocked his China-wary backers and traveled to Beijing for an ice-breaking meeting. For Wen’s return visit, Japanese officials say they have chosen to focus on drawing attention to what unites the two countries rather than what divides them.

The leaders are expected to sign agreements on joint environmental measures and a commitment by Japan to clean up lethal munitions still scattered across parts of China once occupied by Japanese forces. They may also initial a deal on energy cooperation, though it would exclude the thorny matter of the East China Sea’s natural gas deposits.

But the summit’s main goal is to provide the appearance of harmony. This year marks the 35th anniversary of the two countries’ normalization of relations, and it is being celebrated with a series of cultural and sports exchanges. Chinese performers will entertain Abe in Tokyo this week, and Wen will travel Friday to Kyoto, where he is expected to toss pitches with local baseball players.

That still leaves a small window for diplomatic fireworks. Wen will address the Japanese legislature Thursday, and officials here say they have no indication of what the Chinese leader plans to say.

The private meetings between the leaders could also get testy over the increasing signs of an incipient East Asian arms race. The Japanese government has expressed concern about the lack of transparency in China’s burgeoning defense budget. And the security establishment here was alarmed by China’s recent demonstration of its ability to shoot down a satellite.

But Japan’s defense budget is still larger than China’s. The Chinese are concerned about Japan’s joint development, with the United States, of a missile defense ostensibly to shield Japan from North Korean missiles. Abe also is under pressure from the Bush administration to increase defense spending above Japan’s self-imposed ceiling of 1% of its gross domestic product.

“China will respond with tough words if Japan decides to increase its defense budget, but it really has no choice but to accept this as a reality,” said Tomoyuki Kojima, a Keio University professor who headed a task force at the Japan Forum on International Relations last fall that called for deepening personal links between the two countries. “The Chinese regime recognizes how important it is to have a good bilateral relationship with Japan.”

But Japan’s economy also increasingly relies on trade with and investment from China, which has pulled almost even with the U.S. as Japan’s top trading partner. Economic ties deepened even during the years of frosty political relations, with annual two-way trade jumping by 11.5% in 2006 alone, to $211 billion, according to Japan’s External Trade Organization.

Japanese exports to China grew at double the rate of 2005, and China is emerging as a crucial market for foreign sales of Japanese cars at a time when the domestic market is shrinking.

The test will be whether economic interdependency and cultural exchanges can temper ingrained mutual suspicion over past deeds and the current wariness over rival ambitions.

“Japan may have a new leader, but Japan is still Japan,” said Li Hanmei, a professor at Peking University’s School of International Relations.

“Even if Japan apologizes and stops going to the war shrine, the history issue will still not be resolved.

“The fact is China is moving up in the world,” Li said. “The world’s resources are limited. If we have more, Japan will have less.”

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Wallace reported from Tokyo and Ni from Beijing.