China and Japan should make efforts to further bilateral ties in the new century, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said Tuesday, December 12.

"A healthy, stable, and friendly Sino-Japanese relationship is not only conforms to the fundamental interests of the people of both countries and their future generations, but also contributes to the peace, stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large," Jiang said.

In a meeting with Hatoyama Yukio, head of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), Jiang described the current China-Japan relations as "maintaining a sound momentum" on the whole.

Bilateral cooperation in various areas has further enriched their partnership of friendly cooperation oriented towards peace and development, he said.

The Chinese President said that seeking a better Sino-Japanese relationship is the "common aspiration" of the people of the two countries, also "the historical responsibility" of the statesmen, especially statesmen of the younger generation.

As long as the two countries "take the history as a mirror, face the future, further the cooperation, and seek common development," Sino-Japanese relations will be promising, Jiang said.

Jiang, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, told the Japanese delegation that party-to- party exchanges, including the contacts between the CPC and the DPJ, have contributed significantly to mutual understanding, trust, and friendship between the two peoples and the development of bilateral relations.

Jiang hopes the major Japanese political parties and their leaders "will continue to proceed from the overall Sino-Japanese friendship in the new century and make further efforts for the long-term, stable, and healthy development of relations between the two countries."

Yukio said that he chose China as the first country to visit each time he became the head of the DPJ, adding that it shows "the great importance he attaches to Japanese-China relations."

The history of contacts between Japan and China goes back over 2,000 years, Yukio said, adding that "the two countries have been friendly to each other most of the time."

But Japan launched wars of aggression against China in the 20th century and brought enormous tragedy to the Chinese people, he said.

Yukio said that Japan should sincerely reflect on history and face up to the facts of that period with courage.

The DPJ agrees with the proposal of "taking history as a mirror and facing the future" made by Jiang, Yukio noted.

Yukio said that his party admires the achievements made by China in its reform and opening up drive.

Yukio urged the two countries to further strengthen economic cooperation, which is of great potential, so as to contribute to the economic development in the whole Asian region.

(People's Daily 12/13/2000)