Bilateral relations are one of the most important diplomatic
priorities for both China and Japan according to a joint press
statement they issued Sunday.
The statement was published as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe started a visit to Beijing.
Both sides agreed to make efforts to build a mutually beneficial
relationship based on common strategic interests and to realize the
goals of peaceful co-existence, friendship, mutually beneficial
cooperation and common development, the statement said.
Sustaining the healthy and stable development of Sino-Japanese
relations was in the fundamental interests of both countries and
the two shared the responsibility to jointly and constructively
contribute to the peace, stability and development of Asia and the
world, it says.
Abe is on a two-day official visit to China. He met with
President Hu Jintao and Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee
of the National People's Congress (NPC) and held talks with Premier Wen Jiabao.
Both sides believed that since the normalization of bilateral
relations 34 years ago China and Japan had continuously expanded
and deepened exchanges and cooperation as inter-dependence grew,
says the statement.?
The two governments agreed to continue to abide by the
principles of the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the Sino-Japanese
Treaty of Peace and Friendship and the Sino-Japanese Joint
Declaration. They agreed to squarely face history and look the
future, continued the statement.
They also agreed to properly deal with problems affecting the
development of relations and to promote bilateral relations through
expanding both political and economic links. Both sides believed
contact and dialogue between their leaders was significant for the
healthy development of relations.
The Japanese invited Chinese leaders to visit their country for
which gratitude was expressed and consent in principle given. They
agreed to further discuss the issue through diplomatic channels and
to hold frequent talks on occasions of international meetings, the
statement adds.?
The Chinese emphasized their peaceful development plans and
would work with other countries including Japan to pursue common
development and prosperity.
The statement says the Japanese commented positively on China's
pursuit of peaceful development and the huge opportunities it had
brought to the international community including Japan since it
began to reform and open to the outside world.
The Japanese stressed they’d been pursuing and would continue to
pursue the route of a peaceful country since the end of the World
War II more than 60 years ago. The Chinese commented positively on
this.
In order to make the East China Sea a "sea of peace, cooperation
and friendship" both agreed to speed up consultation and settle
relevant disputes through dialogue and consultation, the statement
says.?
The two countries also pledged to deepen mutual-beneficial
cooperation in pivotal areas such as energy, environmental
protection, finance, information technology and the protection of
intellectual property rights.
According to the statement scholars of the two countries would
start joint historical research this year.
The two would also promote ministerial-level dialogue in
economic fields and enhance mutual trust in security issues through
discussion and defense exchanges.
As the year 2007 marks the 35th anniversary of the normalization
of China-Japan ties both? vowed to take the opportunity to
increase friendly relations between the two countries through the
China-Japan Year of Culture and Sports as well as youth exchanges,
the statement continues.??
The two countries also agreed to enhance coordination and
cooperation in international and regional issues.
The statement says both are "deeply concerned" over the
situation on the Korean Peninsula including the nuclear test plan
of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The two expressed a
willingness to work with the other parties concerned to promote the
process of the six-party talks and dedicate themselves to
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, it says.
Also the two countries vowed to strengthen coordination on east
Asian cooperation and among China, Japan and the Republic of Korea
and jointly promote east Asian integration.
According to the statement both countries were in favor of
"necessary" and "reasonable" reform of the United Nations including
its Security Council.
(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2006)