Top Legislator Urges Japanese Youth Not to Forget Wartime Past

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 03, 2002

Top Legislator Urges Japanese Youth Not to Forget Wartime Past

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The chairman of China's National People's Congress, Li Peng, Wednesday urged younger generations of Japanese not to forget the nation's past, while expressing hope for a recovery of the troubled Japanese economy.

Li, China's top legislator, now on an eight-day trip to Japan as part of 30th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, met top parliament officials, including Tamisuke Watanuki, speaker of the House of Representatives.

"It is important not to forget about the past," Li said, during the meeting, according to a Japanese parliament spokesman.

"It is necessary for young generations to have (accurate) recognition of history," Li said.

Anti-Japanese sentiment grew in China and other Asian countries last year when Tokyo approved the use of a history textbook downplaying Japan's wartime atrocities.

China-Japanese relations were also harmed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit last year to a controversial Tokyo shrine honoring war victims, including war criminals.

In a separate meeting with Japanese business leaders, Li expressed his hope that the Japanese economy would pull out of recession as soon as possible.

"If the Japanese economy picks up, it would raise our trade" with Japan, Li told the businessmen, including Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of the Japan Federation of Employers Association, according to Jiji Press News Agency.

"I hope (Japan) will recover as quickly as possible," Li said.

During the meeting, Li said the Chinese economy would grow around seven percent this year.

But "the Chinese economy will not be a threat to Japan," Li said.

Li arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday and is scheduled to hold talks with Koizumi on Thursday. He will also tour Japanese regions, including Toyama in central Japan, as well as Miyazaki and Kagoshima, both on Kyushu island.

Source: Agencies

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