Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday said that repeated visits
to the Yasukuni Shrine by some Japanese leaders had greatly hurt
the feelings of the Chinese people, and seriously undermined
Sino-Japanese relations.
"I hope this will never happen again", Wen said in a joint
interview with 16 Japanese news organizations.
High-level visits between the two countries were suspended
because of former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's
continued visits to the shrine, where 14 Japanese class-A war
criminals from World War II are enshrined.
Wen noted that this year is the 35th anniversary of the
normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relationship and the 70th
anniversary of the "July 7 Incident" marking the beginning of the
War of Resistance against Japan in China.
"China and Japan face opportunities and challenges," Wen
said.
The interview came ahead of Wen's Japan tour slated for April
11-13. His visit will be the first trip to Japan by a Chinese
premier in the last seven years.
China and Japan overcame a number of political obstacles last
October when Chinese president Hu and Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe met in Beijing. The two reached agreements on
facilitating bilateral relations.
"The two sides should handle relations from a strategic,
long-term perspective. I hope the Japanese side will not do
anything that might hurt the feelings of Chinese people again", Wen
told the Japanese reporters.
Wen expressed his hope that Prime Minister Abe would take the
overall situation of China-Japan relations into consideration,
cherish the hard-won opportunity, honor his promises and make
continuous efforts to promote bilateral ties.
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2007)
