(2 of 3)
As the principal promoter of the treaty and .the leader of China's modernizers, Teng cut a triumphant swath through the Japanese capital. Though he is formally only No. 3 man in the Chinese hierarchy, the Deputy Premier was accorded all the honors due a chief of state. Alighting from his Trident jet at Haneda Airport with an entourage of 40 officials, the tiny (5 ft.), 74-year-old leader briskly shook hands with a welcoming delegation of high Japanese government officials. He was then driven in a motorcade through Tokyo, while a veritable army of 12,000 riot police officers stood guard to prevent an attack by right-wing extremists. As it happened, a relatively few protesters made a lot of noise and did little else.
The treaty ratification ceremony took place in the residence of Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, before a dazzling gold screen and a huge bouquet of outsize chrysanthemums. After the foreign ministers of the two countries had brushed their signatures on the documents, Teng declared: "My heart is full of joy." He drank a champagne toast to the health of Emperor Hirohito with Fukuda, then unexpectedly threw his arms around the Japanese Premier and gave him a panda hug.
At lunch with Emperor Hirohito in the Imperial Palace, Teng continued to show the same startling spirit of reconciliation. A veteran of the ferocious 1937-45 Sino-Japanese War, Teng tactfully dismissed Japan's brutal occupation of China before and during World War II as "unfortunate events. Let bygones be bygones." Said he: "We wish to move forward to better relations." The Emperor agreed that there had been "unhappy events" in the history of affairs between the two countries. That simple statement, coming from the man who had been Supreme Commander of the Japanese forces during World War II, was interpreted as an apology for all the wrongs of the past. Thereupon the two men consumed a sumptuous lunch of swallows' nest soup and poached sole, while court musicians played ancient Chinese melodies.
Next day Teng stopped at the Nissan Motor Co.'s most modern Datsun assembly plant, where he was whisked around in an electric cart. He expressed genuine astonishment at the small number of workers employed on the assembly line. When told that Nissan produces 94 vehicles per worker a year, Teng volunteered the fact that the Chinese figure is currently one vehicle per worker per year. "Now," he said gravely, "I understand what modernization really is." As a memento of the visit, Nissan officials gave Teng the most expensive Japanese-made car, a $23,000 black "President Sovereign" sedan. In return, Teng presented the Nissan factory with a painting of giant pandas. When asked to sign the visitors' book, he wrote: "We learn from and pay respect to the Japanese people, who are great, diligent, brave and intelligent."