China Visit to Open up New Future, Japanese FM 　　The current Japan-China relationship is one of the most important bilateral ties for his country, visiting Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi stressed during his first China visit since he assumed the post. 　　As a result of regular meetings between leaders of the two countries, there are promising prospects and Obuchi said he has come to China filled with enthusiasm to open up future ties. 　　He recalled the successful state visit paid by Chinese President Jiang Zemin last Autumn when a joint declaration was signed in which both sides agreed to build up their friendly and cooperative partnership to achieve global peace and development. 　　The two sides already have a consensus which will take them forward into the 21st century, Obuchi commented, adding that he and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji confirmed such a stance when they met earlier today. 　　There was also further discussions on 33 cooperative areas which had first been raised during Jiang's Japan trip. 　　In fact there have been two very positive achievements from his trip, said Obuchi. 　　The first is that there has been a substantial conclusion reached in the talks on China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and secondly on bilateral service trade. In addition, Japan agreed to provide 10 billion yen for the establishment of an afforestation fund for China. 　　He expressed the hope such results can be helpful to pushing forward the on-going negotiations between China and other countries and play a positive role in China achieving WTO entry within the year, he said. 　　He particularly mentioned Japan's regret over the WTO negotiations deadlock between China and the United States. 　　On China's concerns over the expansion of the controversial Japan-U.S. defense sphere, Obuchi said that Japan will continue to follow its defence-only policy, will adhere to three nuclear-free principles and not become a military power. He said the Japan-U.S. defense mechanism is totally responsive and does not target at any specific country or region. 　　On the Taiwan issue, he said Japan's principles outlined in the Japan-China Joint Statement signed in 1972 on the issue remain unchanged. 　　Obuchi stressed that the economic and trade relationship was a vitally important part of bilateral ties and that he hoped the investment and trade development momentum can be recovered, provided the two sides make concerted efforts. 　　As influential countries in the Asia-Pacific region, China and Japan should hold discussions on such universal issues as population, the environment and food supply," he said. WorldNews 1999-07-13 Page2 Full Story in Chinese