Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Friday that he is ready to hold talks with Japanese leaders as long as they make a clear-cut decision to stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine which honors Japan's World War II war criminals.

He made the remarks when meeting with the heads of seven Japan-China friendship organizations at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

The relationship between China and Japan has been chilled in recent years due to Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro's repeated pilgrimage to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including about a dozen major World War II criminals.

Leaders of the two neighboring countries have halted exchanges of visit for over four years, ever since Koizumi began paying homage to the controversial war shrine soon after he took office in 2001.

Hu told the heads of the seven Japanese organizations that in recent years, China-Japan relationship has been faced with a difficult situation, which has aroused worries from the two peoples and attention from the international community.

"This is what we are unwilling to see," he said, noting the difficult situation in China-Japan relations is not caused by the Chinese side or the Japanese people.

The sticking point in this issue is that some Japanese leaders insist on visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, Hu said, noting that this move harms the feelings of peoples from China and other victim countries, and infringes the political foundation of the China-Japan relations.

Hu said the Chinese government always values the China-Japan relations and regards it as one of the important bilateral relations in the world, and China has made unswerving efforts to improve the ties.

The president said he had emphasized on many occasions that the problems arising in the China-Japan relations should be properly solved with the attitude of being highly responsible for the history, for the people and for the future.

Being responsible for the history means that the historical facts should be respected, and historical lessons should be learned so as to prevent the replay of historical tragedy, Hu said.

Being responsible for the peoples means that the development of China-Japan relations should always be based on enhancing friendship between the two peoples and seeking for concrete benefits for the two peoples, Hu noted.

Being responsible for the future means that the two sides should persist in the peaceful coexistence and friendship for generations, and jointly create the bright future for the China-Japan good-neighborly friendship and mutually-beneficial cooperation, he said.

The president said the Chinese government has a "clear", "consistent" and "unswerving" stance on its relations with Japan.

He said the Chinese government will, as it always does, handle China-Japan relations from a strategic and long-term point of view and is committed to China-Japan peaceful coexistence, long-term friendship, beneficial cooperation and common development.

"The Chinese government will abide by the principles of the three Sino-Japanese political documents, including the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, continue to adhere to the principle of taking history as a mirror and looking into the future, and properly settle the problems between the two sides through equal consultations, so as to maintain the overall situation of China-Japan friendship," said Hu.

He said the government will firmly pursue the diplomatic principle of building friendship and partnership with neighboring countries, actively promote Sino-Japanese exchanges and cooperation in diversified fields, and enhance the friendly feelings between the two peoples.

On China's development, Hu said China firmly follows the path of peaceful development because China hopes to create a peaceful international environment for its development and to boost world peace with its own development.

"We would like to join hands with all countries in the world including Japan to build long-lasting peace, common prosperity and a harmonious world," Hu said.

Hu emphasized that China follows an independent and peaceful foreign policy and has no intention to threaten and challenge any other countries.

"We hope to coexist with all the countries in the world equally and friendly so that we can achieve common development," Hu said, explaining that China's policy of national defense is self-defensive and the defense is aimed at improving defense capacity and maintaining national sovereignty and territory integrity.

"China didn't seek hegemony in the past. It is not doing so at present. Neither will it do so in the future," Hu said, noting that the saying of "China's development is a threat" is groundless and untenable.

Hu also urged China and Japan's non-governmental sectors to make joint efforts to boost bilateral ties. "The strive for a pleasant prospect of China-Japan ties can not be separated from the extensive support and active participation of the two peoples as well as the arduous efforts made by the friends of friendly organizations in the two countries," Hu said.

He said he hoped the friendly organizations of the two countries will carry forward the cause and continue to have colorful exchanges to "plant the seeds of friendship", improve mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples especially the young people and make new contributions to the reinforcement of the social foundation of bilateral friendship and the development of long-term and stable China-Japan good-neighborly friendly cooperative ties.

Leaders of the Japanese organizations agreed with Hu that the Japan-China relations are of great importance to the two countries. They said they will continue to play positive roles in promote bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

The seven organizations, which came as guests of the China-Japan Friendship Association, include the Japanese Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Association of Dietmen League for Japan-China Friendship, Japan-China Friendship Association, Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association, Japan-China Association on Economy and Trade, Japan-China Society, and Japan-China Friendship Center.The heads of the organizations include former Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura.

Source: Xinhua