A few years ago, there was the SARS "epidemic." After breaking out in some Canadian provinces, strong connections between Asia and Canada began to appear. These sorts of relationships are meant to spark inquisitive dialogues: "How did SARS get to Canada? What sort of screening do we have to do on planes to keep it from spreading?" and so on.

Recently, with all the hub-bub between Japan and China over wartime atrocities, a small but interesting connection in Asia was formed: Tokyo -> Beijing -> Jakarta. Jakarta? That's where Koizumi submitted an apology at an international conference just a few days ago. Now he and the President of China are meeting there on Saturday to discuss, one would imagine, what steps are going to be necessary to quell the protests and riots in China and bring relations back to more stable ground.