The Chinese government said on Thursday that the verdicts of the
Tokyo tribunal could not be "overturned" since based on "ironclad"
evidence.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks when
commenting on whether the Tokyo Tribunal was discussed at the first
joint China-Japan study of history that concluded in Beijing
Wednesday.
Qin did not confirm that the topic had been discussed, saying,
"History and the international community have given their verdict.
There is a mass of ironclad evidence, and it cannot be
overturned."
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE),
operating from early 1946 until the end of 1948, comprised 11
judges from 11 nations, including the United States, China, the
United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and Australia.
The IMTFE held 818 open hearings involving 419 witnesses,
accepted 779 written testimonies, and concluded with verdicts
totaling 1,231 pages which took seven days to read.
The verdicts were formed on the basis of international laws, a
wealth of witness testimony and material evidence.
Qin said that although scholars of both countries may have
different opinions, their research should evolve through objective
facts, and in a spirit of responsibility for history, the future
and the people.
Altogether 20 Chinese and Japanese historians gathered in
Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday for the first-ever joint
historical research to narrow differences between the two countries
on historical issues.
The Chinese team was headed by Bu Ping, director of the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Modern History. The
Japanese team was led by Shinichi Kitaoka, former deputy Japanese
ambassador to the UN and a professor with the University of
Tokyo.
During the two-day closed-door meeting, both sides settled the
work process, scope and topics of the joint research, and discussed
the history of China-Japan exchanges spanning more than 2,000 years
as well as modern and post-World War II history in two groups.
The second meeting of this kind will be held in March 2007 in
Japan to further discussions of historical issues.
Also on Thursday, Qin said Chinese leaders would visit Japan at
a convenient time next year, but stopped short of confirming a
report stating Premier Wen Jiabao would visit Tokyo in April.
"China and Japan have agreed in principle that Chinese leaders
will visit Japan at a time convenient for both sides," Qin told a
regular news briefing. "But the specific date for the visit has yet
to be set through diplomatic consultations."
A Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on
Wednesday that Wen is set to visit Japan in April - the first such
visit in over six years.
The Asian neighbors hope the visit will improve bilateral ties,
which deteriorated to their worst level in decades over former
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a controversial Tokyo
war shrine, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said in its evening
edition.
"We have noticed the report," Qin said. "Related information
will be released as soon as we get it."
Commenting on whether Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is set
to visit China, Qin said he did not have any information.
"China and Israel have exchanges and cooperation at various
levels and in various fields," Qin said. "We have had no
information about the Israeli leader's visit to China. If any, we
will make it public at a proper time."
At the news briefing, Qin also lauded the efforts made by the
Secretary-General of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Zhang
Deguang, who will conclude his three-year term at the end of this
year to be succeeded by Bolat Nurgaliyev from Kazakhstan.
"During Zhang's three-year term, the SCO secretariat worked in
an efficient, orderly and co-ordinated manner," Qin said.
Currently, political mutual trust has been intensified among the
SCO members along with a deepening of pragmatic cooperation, and
the influence of the organization on the international community
has been rising, he said.
In another development, China on Thursday expressed condolences
and sympathy for Tuesday's oil pipeline explosion in Nigeria, which
caused hundreds of deaths.
The oil pipeline explosion occurred early Tuesday in Nigeria's
commercial capital Lagos which burned more than 200 people to
death.
The victims were local residents who had been scooping fuel from
a vandalized petrol pipeline. Stealing fuel from oil pipelines is a
common illegal occurrence in Nigeria.
(Xinhua News Agency, China Daily December 29, 2006)
