Despite recent sparring, in many respects the relationship between Japan and China has never been better. China overtook the United States as Japan's leading trade partner back in 2006. It was largely demand from China that helped to pull Japan out of the recent economic crisis. And, of course, Prime Minister Hatoyama's expressed intention to improve relations ought to have helped a bit as well. Not that things were all that bad to begin with, says Robert Dujarric of Temple University, Japan Campus. "Every prime minister since Koizumi wanted to engage with China," Dujarric said, referring to Junichiro Koizumi, who left office in 2006.