State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan met with visiting Vice President Hiromasa Ikeda of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) yesterday.

 

Tang said SGI, a Japan-based Buddhist organization, has persevered in China-Japan friendship for a long time and made contributions to promoting bilateral exchanges in various fields and enhancing the friendly ties between the two peoples.

 

Tang praised president of SGI, Daisaku Ikeda, saying he is an "old friend" of the Chinese people who has devoted himself to the cause of China-Japan friendship.

 

Daisaku Ikeda advocated normalizing diplomatic relations between China and Japan in the 1960s. Recently, he once again put forward important views on improving and developing bilateral ties. "We highly appreciate his deeds and words," Tang said.

 

Tang expressed his hope that SGI will inherit the good traditions and continue to develop the ties of the two countries together with the Chinese side and act in accordance with the spirit of "taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future," to enhance the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.

 

Hiromasa Ikeda and his delegation are in Beijing as guests of the China-Japan Friendship Association.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2006)