Japan's ties with China face a litmus test in 2007 as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's honeymoon period comes to an end and the likelihood that disputes over history will return to the fore with the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, officials and analysts say. Tokyo is expected to meanwhile continue putting relations with South Korea back on track with President Roh Moo Hyun scheduled to visit early in the year, while North Korea will continue to pose a 'huge challenge' to diplomats, with the recent six-party talks on denuclearizing the hermit state making no progress. ' ¨C will be a crucial year for Sino-Japanese ties as the two nations will see if their relations can really be on a good track and determine if they can indeed elevate their ties into a relationship of shared strategic interest,¡± said China expert Tomoyuki Kojima.

¡°The situation however is volatile and depends on certain variables,¡± Kojima, a political science professor at Keio University in Tokyo, said, referring to the dispute over Yasukuni Shrine and public sensitivity in China that may arise due to the anniversary of the 1937 massacre in Nanjing.

Abe visited China and South Korea in early October in his first overseas visits after taking office in September in a bid to mend strained ties with the two neighbors.

Sheila Smith, a Japan specialist at the East-West Center in Hawaii, praised Abe for making it a priority to thaw the chilly ties with the two neighboring nations and thereby restore a ¡°basic cordial¡± conversation at the highest level.