Joint efforts between China and Japan to remove current
political obstacles and bring bilateral ties back on the track of
sound and stable development as early as possible should be
pursued, Chinese President Hu Jintao said Tuesday.
Hu made his comments while meeting with Ichiro Ozawa, leader of
the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the largest opposition
Party.
"To strengthen dialogue and exchanges between parties and
statesmen is of significance for increasing political trust and
pushing forward Sino-Japanese relations at a time when bilateral
ties are facing difficulties," Hu said.
Sino-Japanese relations were soured by Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine where
Japan's war dead, including 14 convicted "class A" war criminals
from World War II, are honored.
The leaders of the two countries halted exchange visits
following Koizumi's visit to the War shrine soon after he took
office in 2001.
In an earlier meeting with Ozawa, Chinese State Councilor Tang
Jiaxuan, called on Japan to join hands with China and take
"concrete" action to steer China-Japan relations back onto a normal
track of healthy and stable development.
"China attaches great importance to the China-Japan relations,"
Tang said. He added the healthy and stable development of bilateral
ties not only met the fundamental interests of the two nations but
also helped promote peace in Asia and the world.
Both President Hu and State Councilor Tang appreciated Ozawa's
long-term contribution to cementing China-Japan relations and said
he and his party "had contributed a lot" to the exchanges and
cooperation between the two countries.?
Ozawa said as head of the DPJ he would continue to develop the
Japan-China friendship following the efforts of Japanese
politicians like former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and do his
best to help further develop relations.?
Tanaka, as the first Japanese prime minister to visit China
since World War II, signed a joint statement with China for the
normalization of bilateral relations in 1972.
Before leaving for China on July 2 Ozawa urged that the names of
the 14 "class A" War criminals be removed from the memorial listing
at the Yasukuni Shrine. "It is a mistake to put their names
alongside those of the War dead," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2006)