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Chinese, Japanese Foreign Ministers Discuss Bilateral Ties
Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and his Japanese counterpart Yohei Kono held talks Wednesday on bilateral relations.
Tang said Sino-Japanese relations have in general maintained a development momentum in recent years.
The two countries agreed to build a friendly and cooperative partnership devoted to peace and development when Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited Japan in 1998, Tang said. The two countries then specified the general direction and priorities for bilateral cooperation during former Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's visit to China last year, Tang added. Now, the two countries are speeding up efforts to implement a series of important political consensus reached between leaders of the two countries, said the foreign minister.
To ensure the healthy trend, Tang said, attention must be paid to noises frequently made by certain right-wing forces in Japan, which disturb the development of bilateral relations.
Noting that historical issues are a sensitive question of political principles in bilateral ties, Tang urged the Japanese side to honor its commitments made to China, sternly contain right-wing forces, so as to prevent them from doing more harm to Sino-Japanese ties.
The Chinese foreign minister also said that the Diaoyu Islands have been part of Chinese territory from ancient times. The recent illegal landing by Japan's right-wing group "Japan Youth Federation" and the construction of a Shinto shrine there once again constitute a severe political incident which hurt the feelings of Chinese people, he said.
China urges the Japanese side to bridle right-wing groups and their members to prevent the reoccurrence of similar incidents, Tang said.
Kono gave a positive judgment on the development of bilateral ties. He said today's good Japan-China relationship is the result of unremitting efforts by the two countries' leaders of the older generation, adding that the two countries should cherish the good relations and push them further ahead on the basis of the Japan-China Joint Statement in 1972 and the Japan-China Joint Declaration in 1998.
On historical issues, Kono said Japan still maintains the view expressed by former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1995, adding that the spirit of Murayama's remarks is a concerted view of the current Japanese cabinet and reflects the view of the majority of the Japanese people.
Kono expressed his confidence that bilateral relations will be further improved.
Referring to the question of Taiwan, Tang said the Chinese government will continue to stick to its basic policies of "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems" to seek national reunification through dialogues and negotiations.
At the same time, China firmly maintains that the "one China" principle is the basis for and prerequisite to dialogues between the two sides across the Taiwan Straits and the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue, Tang said.
China's stance on this principle has been firm and steadfast and Beijing has no room whatsoever to make concessions on this issue, he added. Tang urged Tokyo to respect the spirits of the 1972 Sino- Japanese Joint Statement and the 1998 Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration and handle its relations with Taiwan cautiously and properly.
Kono said Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and that the Japanese side fully understands and respects China's stance. He promised that Tokyo would handle relevant issues properly and carefully on the basis of the Japan-China Joint Statement. During the meeting, Tang also explained China's strategy of developing its vast west.
Kono said the Japanese side is willing to actively take part in the drive so as to widen the scope of the two countries' economic cooperation.
The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern and reached consensus on a wide range of issues.
Tang arrived Tokyo Wednesday afternoon for a four-day official visit at the invitation of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. Before meeting with Kono, Tang went to a Tokyo hospital to see Obuchi, who has been in a coma after a stroke in early April.
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