Vice-President
Hu Jintao said yesterday in Beijing that China and Japan should
make great efforts to foster new generations of people who will
carry on the development of Sino-Japanese friendship.
He
said the two countries should work unswervingly for a sound and
steady development of their good-neighborly relations of
cooperation, so as to pass on Sino-Japanese friendship from
generation to generation.
Hu
made the remarks during a meeting with former Japanese prime
ministers Ryutaro Hashimoto and Tomiichi Murayama and former
Japanese vice-prime minister Masaharu Gotoda before a grand
reception commemorating the 30th anniversary of the normalization
of Sino-Japanese relations.
Hu
stressed that China and Japan share the responsibility to push
forward bilateral relations in the spirit of "drawing lessons from
history and looking ahead to the future."
Hu
also expressed hope that the statesmen and people from all sectors
of society in the two countries would cherish the hard-won results
of Sino-Japanese friendship and take advantage of this anniversary
to deepen mutual trust, strengthen exchanges and expand
cooperation.
Yesterday Chinese Premier
Zhu Rongji and his Japanese counterpart, Junichiro Koizumi,
exchanged congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the
normalization of Sino-Japanese ties.
In
a message to Koizumi, Zhu said: "On the occasion of the 30th
anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations, I, on
behalf the Chinese Government and people, wish to send warm
congratulations to you and through you to the Japanese Government
and people."
Zhu also expressed his hope that the two sides will take advantage
of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic normalization to push for
further development of bilateral relations under the guidance of
the Joint Statement of the Government of the People's Republic of
China and the Government of Japan, the Treaty of Peace and
Friendship Between the People's Republic of China and Japan, and
the Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration.
In
a message to Zhu, Koizumi said that over the past 30 years, the two
countries have enjoyed frequent exchanges in political, economic
and cultural areas.
Koizumi concluded that China and Japan shared common responsibility
in maintaining regional and even global peace and prosperity.
(China
Daily September 30, 2002)