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China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said Saturday that only
when the Japanese leaders take history as a mirror and look into
the future, can the friendship between China and Japan develop from
generation to generation.
In response to a query from a Japanese correspondent, Li said
the mainstream of Sino-Japanese relationship is good and there has
been good progress in the communication and cooperation in all
fields between the two countries.
The bilateral trade volume reached US$133.5 billion last year,
he said. And the number of visitors exchanged reached three
million.
The two countries have also enhanced their coordination and
cooperation in both regional and international affairs, the foreign
minister noted, citing the most recent instance of the
participation in the second round of six-party talks held in
Beijing.
In the fight against SARS (the Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome) last year, China got the biggest material assistance from
the Japanese government and people, Li added.
"But the most prominent issue in the bilateral relations, he
said, is that the Japanese leaders insist on visiting the shrine
that houses 14 Class-A World War II criminals and that has deeply
hurt the feelings of the people of China and other Asian
countries", Li pointed out.
He expressed the hope that Japanese leaders should show
sincerity and do not be burdened down by historical issues.
"The Japanese leaders should take history as a mirror and draw
on lessons from history, and make up their minds to live in peace
with other countries and treat each other as equals," he said.
He asked the Japanese correspondent to go back home and ask the
Japanese leadership why it cannot do what some European countries
can.
The Chinese and Japanese people have a history of friendly
exchanges for more than 2,000 years, the foreign minister said.
There was also a history of Japanese militarists invading China in
modern history. "Whatever the case, if China and Japan are to
develop their friendship from generation to generation, it is
necessary to take history as a mirror and look into the
future."
(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2004)
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