Until now Xi has resisted being seen in the same room as Abe, and he signalled that he would have rather have been somewhere else on Monday. Anti-Japanese sentiment goes a long way back in Xi’s family – his father made a name for himself fighting the Japanese in the second world war.
An awkward mid-embrace pause between George W Bush and Angela Merkel back in 2008. It’s going to be hard to get that hug back on track.