China, Japan Share Responsibility to Push Forward Bilateral Ties: Vice President

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, September 29, 2002

China, Japan Share Responsibility to Push Forward Bilateral Ties: Vice President

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China and Japan share the responsibility to push forward bilateral relations in the spirit of "drawing lessons from history and looking ahead to the future," said Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao on Saturday evening.

Hu said that, several days ago, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, in his speech at a meeting attended by more than 13,000 Japanese visitors in Beijing, made clear the orientation for the long-term development of Sino-Japanese relations.

It is the common responsibility of the two countries to push forward bilateral relations, which is also the common aspiration of the people of both countries, he said.

Hu made the remarks during a meeting with former Japanese Prime Ministers Ryutaro Hashimoto and Tomiichi Murayama and former Japanese Vice Prime Minister Masaharu Gotoda before a grand reception commemorating the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations.

The reception was sponsored jointly by the China-Japan Friendship Association and the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in the Great Hall of the People. ????

During the meeting Hu expressed hope that the statesmen and people from all sectors of the society in the two countries would cherish the hard-won results of the Sino-Japanese friendship and take advantage of this anniversary to deepen mutual trust, strengthen exchanges and expand cooperation.

He emphasized that the two countries should make great efforts to foster new generations of people who will carry on the Sino-Japanese friendship.

He said the two countries should work unswervingly for a sound and steady development of their good-neighborly relations of cooperation, so as to pass on Sino-Japanese friendship from generation to generation.

After the meeting, Hu and other Chinese leaders and the Japanese guests attended the reception.

Exhibition on Sino-Japanese ties opens

An exhibition to mark the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese ties was unveiled at the Memorial Hall of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression on Saturday.

The exhibition featured contributions by major Chinese and Japanese figures in promoting friendly relations between the two countries.

With "taking history as a mirror, looking ahead to the future" as its theme, the exhibition traced the process of the normalization of ties between China and Japan.

Tomiichi Murayama, a former Japanese prime minister, came to the memorial hall and shook hands warmly with Bai Jiefu, a Chineseveteran of the eight-year war. Murayama's inscription wishing for lasting friendship and peace between the two countries was displayed in the hall.

Shinichiro Shiranishi, chairman of the executive council of theJapan-China Society, said that, since China sent envoys to Japan during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), history has witnessed frequent exchanges between the two countries.

"I wish that China and Japan will become good friends," said Wang Hao, an 11-year-old boy from the Primary School of Lugou Bridge.

A frequent visitor to the memorial hall, Wang said he has learned a great deal of history here.

Professor Fukuo Iwazaki, a Chinese literature expert at Japan'sMeiji University, said that he comes to China every year.

"People of our two countries should make efforts to maintain our friendship forever," he added.

The hall was decorated by paper cranes, the Japanese symbol of peace, and an enormous photograph of smiling students holding a banner which reads "For Sino-Japanese friendship generation after generation. For everlasting peace for human beings."

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