Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday welcomed a 200-strong
Japanese delegation at a banquet in the Great Hall of the
People, during which he urged young people from China and Japan to
enrich their friendship. The delegation is composed of
representatives and the children of participants who attended a
grand gathering back in 1984, as well as several Japanese lawmakers
and staff from friendship organizations.
"Younger generations will determine the future of the friendship
between China and Japan. They should promote bilateral ties, learn
from each other, talk to each other and trust each other so that
friendship and positive actions flower," Hu said. "I believe the
future of China and Japan will be positive and the torch of
friendship will be handed down from one generation to the
next."
In late 1984, 3,000 Japanese young people visited China at the
invitation of Hu Yaobang, then general secretary of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of China. They met up with around
1 million young people from China to commemorate the 12th
anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations. At the
time, this was the largest foreign group China had welcomed since
1949.
"Twenty-three years ago, we organized a series of activities to
renew the friendship between young people from China and Japan.
Since then, these delegates have embodied this spirit of friendship
by their actions," said Hu.
During the banquet, the guests were treated to a show including
acrobatics and traditional folk songs before exchanging gifts.
As the day marked the Chinese traditional Duanwu Festival, or
Dragon Boat Festival, delegates were offered "zongzi", a type of
sticky rice dumpling that is traditionally eaten on this day.
Yasuhiro Nakasone, a former Japanese prime minister who is
leading the delegation, also made a warm speech saying that
cooperation between the two East Asian powers formed "the basis of
both development and prosperity in Asia and even peace in the
world." He then urged both sides to keep the light of Japan-China
friendship ablaze for generations to come.
The delegation is visiting China from June 14 to 20 as part of
the 2007 China-Japan Culture and Sports Year.
(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2007)
