http://www.japantoday.com/category/politic...inese-president
Wednesday 07th May, 10:41 AM JST
TOKYO —
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed Wednesday to boost overall bilateral relations, with Beijing giving positive words for Tokyo’s postwar peace in a joint statement for the first time. The two leaders also discussed bilateral disputes in their summit talks in Tokyo, and while they stopped short of reaching solutions, reported progress on a thorny row over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea.
Tibet was also a topic, with Fukuda welcoming recent discussions between the Chinese government and Dalai Lama envoys, and Hu announcing continued contacts over the problem that has triggered international concern.
The meeting was held on the second day of Hu’s visit to Japan, the first such trip by a Chinese head of state in a decade.
‘‘Prime Minister Fukuda and I believe that Sino-Japanese relations are at a new historic starting point,’’ Hu told a press conference.
A joint statement calling for the promotion of ‘‘strategic, mutually beneficial ties,’’ adopted after the talks, said the two countries are ‘‘partners of cooperation and will not be threats to each other.’’
Japan’s wartime past did not figure prominently in the statement, touted as the fourth such landmark paper since they established diplomatic relations in 1972.
The two countries ‘‘will look squarely into history and look toward the future,’’ it said, without any mention of Japan’s responsibility for wartime atrocities.
In another departure from previous such documents, China said in the statement that it ‘‘positively assessed’’ the path Japan has taken as a peaceful nation for 60 years after the war.
Differences over the interpretation of Japan’s wartime militarism and its invasion of China had weighed down relations for years, before they entered a recovery path with a 2006 visit to China by then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Wednesday’s statement said that to bolster trust, a mechanism for regular mutual visits will be established and the leaders will hold summit talks often, including during international conferences, it said.
Fukuda and Hu reported progress in the bilateral dispute over gas exploration rights in the East China Sea, although they said a complete solution has yet to be reached.
‘‘There has been great progress through useful talks between the two countries, and there is an outlook for a solution on this long-standing problem,’’ Fukuda told the press conference. ‘‘We agreed that we will discuss details and try to reach an agreement as soon as possible.’’
Both Japanese and Chinese officials declined to explain what the specific progress was.
Japan and China have agreed to jointly develop the disputed area where economic waters claimed by both countries overlap, but they remain apart on exactly where to do so.
The Japanese and Chinese leaders also agreed on cooperation to solve food-poisoning cases in Japan triggered by Chinese-made frozen meat dumplings, they said.
On Tibet, Fukuda said he welcomed China’s dialogue with the Dalai Lama’s envoys as ‘‘the first step toward full-fledged dialogue,’’ and urged Hu to improve the situation through more talks.
Hu said the contacts will continue after the talks Sunday in the southern Chinese city Shenzhen, but also repeated that Tibet’s spiritual leader must ‘‘show through action’’ that he is not instigating violence.
Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama and his supporters of having organized violence that rocked Tibet in March in an attempt to split Tibet from the rest of China, an allegation the Nobel Peace Prize laureate denies.
In his talks with Fukuda, Hu made the most positive remarks yet over Tokyo’s bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, saying Beijing ‘‘hopes Japan will play a bigger, constructive role’’ in the United Nations, according to a Japanese government official.
Fukuda, meanwhile, offered Japan’s cooperation for the success of the Beijing Olympics, and said he will consider attending the opening ceremony of the Summer Games.
The two leaders agreed to promote the six-party process aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. China is the host of the multilateral negotiations, which involve North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
The two countries also issued a separate document on cooperation on climate change, in which China said it ‘‘takes note’’ of a Japanese proposal to halve the world’s emission of global warming gases by 2050 from current levels.
The comment was seen as a policy shift because China has earlier opposed setting global emission-reduction targets.
Earlier, Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko welcomed Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing at a ceremony held at the Imperial Palace. The emperor told the Chinese leader in talks held later that Japanese children are ‘‘delighted’’ by the Chinese decision to offer Japan a pair of giant pandas, the Imperial Household Agency said.
In the 20-minute talks, the two, however, did not take up thorny issues of historical perception or the Beijing Olympics. Hu also did not offer an invitation to the imperial couple to visit China, agency officials said.
The emperor told Hu that he is ‘‘happy that friendship and mutual understanding between Japan and China will deepen through the visit.’’
The emperor also recalled his visit to China in 1992 and said, ‘‘I remember well that I received a warm welcome.’’ Hu was quoted as telling, ‘‘It was a very good visit and the Chinese people remember it very well.’’
Meanwhile, Hu expressed regret over the recent death of a giant panda at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo, and told the emperor that the Chinese government will offer giant pandas ‘‘so that Japanese people can continue to enjoy’’ seeing them.
The offer had already been conveyed by Hu to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda during an informal dinner on Tuesday.
Japan has asked that pandas be leased from China following the death on April 30 of the only panda left at the zoo, which had had at least one panda on display since a pair was first given by China in 1972 to commemorate the normalization of Japan-China relations.
Hu, who has also visited Japan in 1998, said he remembered discussing with the emperor ‘‘the long history of exchanges’’ between the two countries.
Hu and the emperor also talked about Jian Zhen, a Chinese monk called Ganjin in Japanese who founded Toshodaiji Buddhist temple in the city of Nara in 759, agency officials said.
In a welcome ceremony, attended also by Crown Prince Naruhito and Fukuda, the national anthems of the two countries were played and Hu received the salute of an honor guard of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force.