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| Zhao Qizheng (left), former chairman of the foreign aff airs committee of China’s top political advisory body, exchanges ideas with former Japanese ambassador to China Yuji Miyamoto at a preparatory meeting for the ninth Beijing-Tokyo Forum in Beijing on Tuesday. The forum,organized by China Daily and Japanese think tank Genron NPO, is scheduled for August in the Chinese capital. CUI MENG / CHINA DAILY |
Public opinion in China and Japan should not be held hostage to radical sentiments, veteran politicians and think tank members said on Tuesday.
Sensational online remarks advocating "a major war" or spreading extreme pessimism "represent ideas of the minority" and may mislead the general public, said Zhao Qizheng, former chairman of the foreign affairs committee of China's top political advisory body.
Zhao made the comment at a news conference following a meeting co-hosted by China Daily and Japan's Genron NPO think tank.
The meeting is a preliminary consultation for the upcoming ninth Beijing-Tokyo Forum, which will begin on Aug 12, the 35th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty.
Despite strained Sino-Japanese ties, Zhao is optimistic about the future and said his confidence is based on the overwhelming love of peace among the Chinese and Japanese.
Sino-Japanese ties became deadlocked after the Japanese government illegally "purchased" China's Diaoyu Islands in September, a major provocation that flared the territorial dispute and prompted China's strong protests.
Bilateral trade figures and people-to-people exchanges slumped as the standoff continued over the islands.
"Although there had been ups and downs in the bilateral relationship, the current situation, I'm afraid, is the record low," said Yasushi Akashi, former undersecretary-general of the United Nations.
Heavy rainfall hits S China's Guangxi
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