Friend or foe? Japan-China ties complicated after 50 years

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Friend or foe? On the streets of Tokyo and Beijing, the ties between Japan and China remain complicated and often contradictory. Chinese urbanites slurp “ramen” soup noodles in a two-story restaurant row made to look like Tokyo’s narrow alleyways. Japanese flock to a festival in Tokyo to try Chinese dumplings. But critical views are on the rise 50 years after the two Asian countries normalized relations as part of the process that brought Communist China into the international fold. The two are marking the anniversary Thursday of the agreement to establish diplomatic relations in 1972.