Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao elaborated on Saturday the "three
bases" for healthy China-Japan relations, underscoring the
principle that people of the two nations were the real foundation
of bilateral ties.
One of the bases was that the two sides should abide by the
three key political documents on ties, including the
Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the Peace and Friendship
Treaty and the Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration, said
Wen.
As for the second base, "the real foundation lies in people.
People of the two nations shall promote mutual respect and
understanding and treat each other equally," he said, while hosting
a breakfast for visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
The future of China-Japan relations would rely on young people,
which Wen depicted as the third base.
"If the economic and trading cooperation stands for today's
friendship with immediate profits, exchanges of the young and the
two peoples will generate long-term benefits by influencing the
future," he said.
About 4,000 youths will be invited to take part in bilateral
exchanges in 2008, which has been designated as a year of
friendship between the young people of the two neighboring
countries.
Wen's words were in keeping with the friendly atmosphere at the
Diaoyutai State Guest House, the venue of the breakfast, against
the backdrop of a large welcome banner and two potted moth orchids,
which were said to be a very popular plant in Japan.
"Although it is a chilly winter day, we can feel the warmth from
friendly China-Japan relations here," Wen said.
He also reiterated major consensuses the two sides had reached
in earlier talks and meetings on Friday, including President Hu
Jintao's visit to Japan next year "in a cherry blossom spring."
Fukuda described 2008 as "a very rare opportunity" for the
development of bilateral ties, as it marked the 30th anniversary of
a Sino-Japanese friendship and peace treaty, which was signed by
his father, the late former Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda,
and the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1978.
Wen surprised Fukuda on Friday by presenting him with a photo of
the treaty signing scene and his father's inscribed works as
special gifts.
"The Sino-Japanese friendship brings peace to the world," the
father, Takeo Fukuda, had written in cursive script, a traditional
form of Chinese handwriting.
After Saturday morning's breakfast, Wen and Fukuda played
baseball, a spontaneous game that followed Fukuda's suggestion
during Friday's talks.
Later, Fukuda visited a primary school in northeastern Beijing
and then left for Tianjin, a northern port city, where he visited
the Binhai new area, an economic development zone, and a factory of
Tianjin FAW Toyota Motor Co. Ltd.
The Binhai new area houses more than 6,300 companies, including
over 70 joint ventures among the world's top 500 companies.
Tianjin was a forward-looking and flourishing city, and its
development was quite eye-catching, Fukuda said.
"Japan has carried out active economic and trading cooperation
and cultural exchanges with Tianjin, and Japan's Kobe and Tianjin
have become sister cities, both demonstrating the deep feelings
between the two peoples," he said, adding that Japan would try to
promote the friendly relations to a new stage.
Zhang Gaoli, Party chief of Tianjin Municipality, also hoped
that Fukuda's visit would bring new opportunities for cooperation
and exchanges between the two sides.
Fukuda arrived in the city of Jinan, capital of east China's
Shandong Province on Saturday afternoon where he met provincial
Communist Party chief Li Jianguo.
Fukuda said friendly relationship should not be confined between
national governments of Japan and China, but should be extended to
wider scope through strengthening the cooperation between different
local cities and communities at various levels.
He proposed the establishment of sisterhood between his hometown
Yamanashi Prefecture and Shandong and added that the consulate
general of Japan to be opened in Qingdao, a major port city, will
further intensify the exchange and cooperation between Japan and
Shangdong.
Fukuda will also visit the hometown of Confucius in Qufu,
Shandong Province, before wrapping up his four-day China tour on
Sunday.
(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2007)
