China, Japan seek to mend ties through rare non-governmental dialogue

China and Japan sought to mend ties as heads of seven Japan-China friendship organizations made their first joint visit to China on Friday.

"I am ready to hold talks with Japanese leaders as long as they make a clear-cut decision to pay no more visits to the Yasukuni Shrine," Chinese President Hu Jintao told the Japanese guests on Friday afternoon.

This was a rare meeting between Hu and Japanese guests as the Sino-Japanese ties have been soured by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the shrine honoring WWII war criminals.

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

The seven visiting organizations are 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.

Among the Japanese guests are former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura.

On Friday morning, they exchanged views with heads of major Chinese friendship organizations on how to mend political ties through enhanced non-governmental exchanges ranging from youth contacts to cultural cooperation.

"Facing the China-Japan political stalemate," said Song Jian, president of China-Japan Friendship Association, "non-governmental groups of both sides should make concerted efforts to promote exchanges between political circles of the two countries, and increase trade and cultural exchanges, as well as youth contacts."

Echoing Song's views, Hashimoto said that the most important thing for Japan and China now is to observe their three political documents and draw lessons from history.

"We should develop Japan-China relations with a view to looking forward to the future," Hashimoto said.

As political ties also affect bilateral trade cooperation, more non-governmental exchanges on economy were proposed by both Chinese and Japanese guests on Friday morning.

Wan Jifei, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, expressed the hope that the exchanges between the two countries' enterprises would continue to strengthen.

Hashimoto disclosed that he will lead a big trade delegation to China in mid-April.

A series of large-scale China-Japan exchange programs on economy and culture were also said to be under consideration.

Ikuo Hirayama, president of Japan-China Friendship Association, suggested the two countries organize visits among young journalists, and hold cultural activities such as calligraphy exhibitions and concerts, in order to increase mutual understanding.

"Youth exchanges are of great importance to promoting long-term friendship between Japan and China", said Noda Takeshi, president of the Japan-China Society.

In the past, China and Japan succeeded in promoting bilateral relations through non-governmental exchanges, said Feng Zhaokui, a researcher with the prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Now it is imperative to boost people-to-people exchanges to mend relations," Feng said.

The non-governmental exchanges could to some degree influence the development of the political atmosphere, Zhou Yongsheng, an expert with the Chinese University of Foreign Affairs.

Nearly 80 percent of the Japanese believe that their country needs to improve relations with China, according to a survey released by the Japanese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday.

Yet this ice-breaking visit by Japanese friendship organizations was overshadowed by the latest behavior by the Japanese side.

According to a report from the Kyodo News agency on Friday, Koizumi said in Tokyo, "Because I'm (still) visiting Yasukuni Shrine, I don't think it would be good to comply with a summit meeting."

On Wednesday, Japan completed its annual review of school textbooks after ordering publishers to state more clearly Tokyo's claim to the Diaoyu Islands.

However, Hu still reiterated the Chinese government's "clear," "consistent" and "unswerving" stance on its relations with Japan, stressing that it will, as always, handle China-Japan relations from a strategic and long-term point of view.

Source: Xinhua