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Relations With Foreign Countries

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China-Russia strategic and cooperative partnership has developed continually. The Sino-Russian strategic and cooperative partnership expanded continually in 2000, with cooperation between the two countries in international affairs being strengthened. President Jiang Zemin met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on many occasions; they exchanged views on some major issues and reached consensus.

During President Putin's state visit to China between July 17-19, the heads of state of the two countries signed several important documents, including the Beijing Declaration of the People's Republic of China and the Federation of Russia and the Joint Statement of the President of the People's Republic and China and President of the Federation of Russia on Anti-Ballistic Missile Issue. These provided a blueprint for the overall development of China-Russia relations in the new century.

NPC Chairman Li Peng paid a successful visit to Russia September 11-19. Russian Prime Minister Mikahail Kasyanov paid a formal visit to China November 3-4, during which he and Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji held the fifth regular meeting of Sino-Russian prime ministers. Chinese President Jiang Zemin and NPC Chairman Li Peng met with Kasyanov and Premier Zhu held talks with him. The two sides exchanged views in a thorough way on bilateral relations, especially on the issue on further development of bilateral cooperation in economic, scientific and technological, energy and various other fields. Fourteen documents on bilateral cooperation were signed, including the Joint Communique on the Fifth Regular Meeting of Sino-Russian Prime Ministers and the Minutes of the Fourth Meeting of the Committee for Regular Meeting of Sino-Russian Prime Ministers.

While attending the Eighth Informal APEC Leaders'  Meeting of  held in Brunei, President Jiang met with Russian President Putin on November 15 and the two exchanged views mainly on bilateral relations and the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. This, together with the fifth regular meeting of Sino-Russian prime ministers held in Beijing between Premier Zhu Rongji and Russian Prime Minister Kasyanov, was of great influence for enriching and developing the China-Russia strategic and cooperative partnership.

This year, China and Russia will continue to keep up the exchange of high-level visits. Russian President Putin will come to China on two occasions to attend international meetings. President Jiang paid a state visit to Russia in July. During Jiang's visit, heads of state of the two countries formally signed a China-Russia good neighborly and friendly cooperative treaty.

China and Russia have maintained a fairly good relationship of exchange and contacts in economic, scientific and technological, and military fields. China-Russia relations are a new, normal state-to-state relationship, aimed at realizing the long-term good-neighborliness, friendliness and cooperation between the two countries on the basis of nonalignment, non-confrontation and not directing against a third country.

China-Japan relations have maintained a momentum of development. In May 2000, a large-scale Japan-China cultural and friendly group, composed of more than 5,000 people, visited China. President Jiang Zemin met the delegation and delivered an important speech on strengthening and developing Sino-Japanese friendly relations, which aroused a positive response among the people of the two countries. In October, Premier Zhu Rongji paid a formal visit to Japan. In line with the spirit of enhancing trust, clearing up doubts and expanding cooperation, Premier Zhu had extensive meetings with Japanese government officials and personages from various Japanese circles, reaching consensus with people either in or out of Japanese Government on developing the friendly cooperative partnership geared toward peace and development. It helped enhance mutual understanding, strengthen the political foundation of bilateral relations and promote development of friendly cooperative relations between the two countries in various fields.

Meanwhile, there is still soil and environment in Japan for militarism. A small number of ultra-right elements have created noises from time to time concerning historical issues and Japan's relations with Taiwan, undermining China-Japan friendliness. China has shown grave concern over the trend in the issue of school textbooks in Japan that contain contents prettifying Japan's history of aggression and denying proven facts of past aggression. China has made clear its solemn stand on this issue to the Japanese side on many occasions through diplomatic channels. The Chinese side maintains that the correct recognition of historical issues is the political foundation for China-Japan relations. The Japanese textbook issue is, in essence, an issue of whether the Japanese side could correctly realize and treat its history of aggression, whether it could convince its Asian neighbors with practical acts, and whether it is ready to follow the road of peace and development continuously. The Japanese government departments have the final say as to whether the contents of the textbook are acceptable and whether it can be published. Therefore, the Japanese Government should bear due responsibility and obligation to show with its acts that its positions on historical issues it made previously on many occasions are believable. And it should properly handle the textbook issue. Only by doing so, can the political foundation for China-Japan relations be maintained.

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