By Chen Haosu
We give great attention to the current Beijing-Tokyo Forum,
which, like the first one staged last year in Beijing, is of
trail-blazing significance. The forum, which is to alternate
between the two countries over 10 years' time, watches over the
progress of Sino-Japanese ties and helps the two countries go
forward along the road of friendship and co-operation.
We are optimistic about future China-Japan relations and
confident that inter-country ties will again become smooth over
eight or 10 years. By then, both the Chinese and Japanese, young
people in particular, will be grateful for the painstaking efforts
we are now making for the improvement of ties.
A Chinese saying goes: Good things never come easy. Grand
undertakings such as friendship and co-operation between the
Chinese and Japanese peoples are bound to meet difficulties and
suffer setbacks. This is understood by all.
Upon entering the new century, China-Japan relations ran into
political snags that have given rise to an abnormal situation
marked by a freezing political climate and warm economic weather.
Or, exchanges at the top are virtually frozen but those between
non-governmental personnel and organizations are going well.
The root cause for all this has yet to be eliminated, which
understandably worries those concerned for the future of
Sino-Japanese friendship. Non-governmental personnel from both
sides have thus been making great efforts to promote communication
between the two sides.
In his meeting with the heads of seven visiting Japan-China
friendship organizations on March 31, President Hu Jintao told the Japanese guests that the
Chinese Government has always attached great importance to
China-Japan relations and leaves no stone unturned to assure that
bilateral relations are improved, and that he regards Sino-Japanese
ties as one of the most important bilateral relations in the
world.
President Hu emphasized that problems in China-Japan relations
should be properly handled by the two parties, while being
responsible for history, the people and the future as the point of
departure.
He also suggested that relations follow the guidelines of
peaceful co-existence, mutual benefit and co-operation, enduring
friendship and development hand in hand.
All this is actually the solemn statement of commitment to the
development of China-Japan ties on behalf of the Chinese Government
and Chinese people.
I have heard Chinese leaders state time and again that the
principles laid down in the China-Japan Joint Statement,
China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship and China-Japan Joint
Declaration must be stuck to; that the problems between the two
countries be properly handled through negotiations, "using history
as a mirror and aiming at the future;" and that Sino-Japanese
friendship, which is of overriding importance, be maintained.
In view that Japan is our close neighbor separated from China by
just "a strip of water," we should push for co-operation and
exchanges in a wide range of fields, applying the principle of
"having good intentions towards one's neighbor and being a good
partner to him."
China's leaders encourage its non-governmental organizations and
personnel to have exchanges with the Japanese side in various forms
in order to promote goodwill feelings between the two peoples.
In June, for example, the Chinese People's Association for
Friendship with Foreign Countries and China-Japan Friendship
Association organized a grand event in Huludao, Liaoning Province, in commemoration of the
repatriation of 1 million Japanese from China to Japan. The event
was meant to show that the Chinese side, barely one year after the
war ended in 1945, set about forging post-war ties with Japan and
started to settle complex issues left by the war, such as the
question of 1 million Japanese staying in China, so that they would
not turn into hidden risks in the future.
The Chinese people, while striving to make their own country
prosperous, hope to make significant contributions to world peace
and development. President Hu Jintao put forward the initiative to
bring about a world of harmony in his speech delivered at the
ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the United Nations last
September.
At the mention of the harmonious world, the Chinese first
associate the notion with a harmonious Asia and Sino-Japanese ties.
All Chinese, leaders and ordinary citizens alike, look at the world
with good wishes. We believe that the wisdom of the millennia-old
Asian civilizations, with the notion of "harmony" as an example,
will enlighten the minds of the Chinese, Japanese and other Asian
peoples. Drawing upon this pool of wisdom, we will be able to
resolve the problems of our own and between each other.
Last year, I suggested at a meeting in Beijing that "respect"
constitutes the precondition to resolving all kinds of problems
between China and Japan. This means respecting others as well as
oneself, respecting moral principles as well as interests,
respecting the future as well as history.
These ideas, in my opinion, are identical with those of
President Hu's that we should be highly responsible for history,
the people and the future.
I would like to emphasize here that we are more than willing to
strengthen our non-governmental co-operation with the Japanese side
in order to help improve official ties. This embodies our
long-standing principle of "promoting official ties by
non-governmental maneuvers."
This principle can be further broken down into "promoting mutual
trust via cultural undertakings," "bringing about a win-win
situation through economic activities" and "promoting common
progress via political co-operation."
The current conflicts in the Middle East show the grave
consequences that could be brought by mutual distrust and hatred.
China and Japan also had similar painful experiences in the past.
So, bringing about the two countries' future of peace and
friendship rests on mutual trust, to begin with.
Economic co-operation will make China and Japan both winners.
Japan wrought economic wonders in the latter half of the 20th
century whereas China is writing a new chapter of impressive
economic progress in the new century. The two countries'
co-operation in this regard will not only power their own
development but also help boost the economic progress of Asia and
the world as a whole.
Politically, China and Japan ought to march towards each other
and get closer to one another, instead of going in opposite
directions and getting wider and wider apart.
The ongoing Sightseeing Year of China-Japan Friendship is a
symbol in this respect. Let more Chinese visit Japan and let more
Japanese visit China. In this way, they will get to know one
another's history, culture and real life better. They will thus be
able to find out their common grounds through acknowledging the
differences.
Overall, mutual trust, mutual benefit and hand-in-hand progress
are the keynote of China-Japan relations. They are also indicators
for the fulfillment of the ultimate goals of this forum.
The author is the president of the Chinese People's
Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
(China Daily August 9, 2006)
