Senior ruling party officials from
China and Japan met in Beijing on Monday afternoon, hoping to
repair worsening bilateral relations.
Senior Japanese officials from the Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) and Komei Party are in China to attend the first meeting
under the China-Japan Ruling Parties Exchange Mechanism being held
in Beijing from February 21 to 22.
In a meeting with a Japanese ruling alliance delegation
co-headed by Hidenao Nakagawa from the LDP, and Yoshihisa Inoue
from Komei, Li
Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Political
Bureau of the Communist Party of China (
CPC) Central Committee, said China hopes that Japan will take
concrete measures to eliminate the obstacles in the further
development of bilateral ties.
Li said China-Japan relations are at an all-time low since the
two countries normalized diplomatic links in 1972.
Li said that at the heart of the current tense state of affairs
is Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's insistence on
visiting the Yasukuni Shrine that honors committed World War II war
criminals.
Nakagawa said as two prominent countries in Asia, both Japan and
China shoulder major responsibilities for peace and stability in
Asia and the world.
It is important that the two countries carry out political
dialogue in a spirit of equality, Nakagawa said, adding that Japan
is willing to work towards the healthy and stable development of
Japan-China relations.
Inoue said that the Komei Party holds the Japan-China friendship
in high regard and it is within the interests of the two countries
and conducive to development and stability of Asia and world peace
to further develop those ties.
Li expressed the hope that the two sides will abide by the
principles of the three political documents they signed. He called
for them to draw lessons from history and look forward to the
future so as to truly realize peaceful coexistence, friendship
through the generations, mutually beneficial cooperation and common
development.
Nakagawa and Inoue are the highest-ranking Japanese officials to
visit China in the last two years.
The Japanese delegation leaves for Japan on Thursday night.
(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2006)