Chinese, Japanese PMs hold talks in Beijing 

Source:

10-09-2006 08:53

BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Beijing Sunday and said the two countries should keep friendly for generations to come.

"We should start from the overall situation of China-Japan relations and follow the world trend and the will of the people, and remain firm in keeping a friendly relationship for generations to come," Wen said.

Wen appreciated Abe's positive attitude toward China-Japan relations, saying that as China and Japan have reached a consensus on overcoming political obstacles affecting bilateral ties and on promoting the sound and healthy development of Sino-Japanese relations, the prime minister's visit to China was realized and a "window of hope" has been opened.

Wen said China-Japan relationship faced both new opportunities of development and lots of challenges as well.

While China-Japan relations have been basically "good" following the normalization of bilateral ties, they soured over former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's persistent visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 Japanese class-A war criminals of World War II are honored among the country's war dead, Wen note.

Wen stressed that to achieve the long-term stable and healthy development of China-Japan relations, the shrine issue must be properly handled and the political obstacles affecting bilateral ties must be removed in line with the consensus reached between the two nations.

"Promises must be kept and action must be resolute," Wen said, noting that that is an important guarantee for pushing forward China-Japan relations.

The construction of China-Japan relationship should be based on the three political documents signed by the two countries and conducted in the spirit of "taking the history as a mirror and looking into the future", said Wen.

Wen made a five-point proposal on developing future bilateral relations:

Firstly, the two should materialize and maintain mutual visits by the leaders of the two countries, enhance communication and exchange at multiple levels and enhance mutual political trust;