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Group photo of experts who attended the roundtable co-organized by Chinese think tank the Charhar Institute and the Peace Studies Association of Japan in Beijing on Oct. 31, 2015. [China.org.cn]

A roundtable forum joined by Chinese and Japanese intellectuals was held in Beijing on Saturday to find a way out of the current deadlock for Sino-Japanese relations.

The roundtable, co-organized by Chinese think tank the Charhar Institute and the Peace Studies Association of Japan, centered on the theme of "The Past, Present and Future of Sino-Japanese relations."

Sasaki Hiroshi, president of the Peace Studies Association of Japan, said one of the most significant problems for the two countries' relationship is territory issues. "The background is actually the resource and energy issues," he said.

Before China and Japan settled in real peace, Hiroshi said the two countries can reach a status of "co-existence," and that interest disputes can also be an opportunity. He also suggested that the two countries can build a new framework of security guarantees to resolve the resource issue and how to co-manage the international public properties.

Liu Cheng, a professor at Nanjing University and a senior research fellow at the Charhar Institute, said when there are conflicts and differences, there are more needs for both parties to sit down and have a dialogue, adopt measures of federalism, conduct roundtable conferences and negotiations. He also proposed that in resolving the future conflicts between China and Japan, the two countries have to trust in "the third power," which, he said, is not a physical organization, but the truthful conception recognized by both parties in confrontation, something like "universal love" in ancient Chinese philosophy or "nirvana" in Buddhism.

Zhang Tuosheng, director of research at the China Foundation for International Strategic Studies, said China and Japan's military confrontation will be dangerous and will not end in a short time. He hopes to see the two countries reach an agreement on crisis control and reopen dialogues concerning how to jointly explore and exploit the East China Sea. The two countries should reach a new consensus and encourage tacit understanding regarding the Diaoyu Island sovereignty issue and other disputes.

Dozens of scholars, including Akihiko Kimijima, a professor at Ritsumeikan University, Dr. Alan Hunter, professor of Asian Studies at Coventry University, Chen Tao, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, Kyoko Okumoto and Kiyoko Furusawa, members of the Peace Studies Association of Japan, Jason Tower, representative of Northeast Asia Quaker International Affairs,  and many more also joined the discussion before Chinese Premier Li Keqiang left for Seoul to attend the trilateral summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Sunday.

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