President Hu Jintao said on Friday that he is ready to meet Japan's leader as
long as he promises not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine that honours Japanese World
War II war criminals.
Hu made the remark when he met the heads of seven Japan-China friendship
organizations at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
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President Hu Jintao poses for a photo with
members of seven Japan-China friendship organizations in Beijing March 31,
2006. [Xinhua]
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It is the first time China's leader has explicitly laid out conditions for
resuming long-stalled talks between the two countries' top leaders.
"As long as the Japanese leader makes a clear-cut decision to no longer visit
the Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals are honoured, I would like to
hold talks with him to improve Sino-Japanese relations," Hu told his Japanese
guests, who included former prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.
Current Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro's repeated visits to the
shrine, a symbol of Japan's past militarism, led to the suspension of high-level
contact between the two countries.
Hu said the cause of the worsening relationship did not lie with China or
ordinary Japanese people.
The crux of the problem is that the Japanese leader insists on visiting the
shrine, which has hurt the feelings of Chinese people and damaged the political
foundation of Sino-Japanese relations.
To properly solve the problems hindering bilateral ties, one must "take a
responsible attitude towards history, respect historical facts and learn from
history," Hu said.
He said the visit by the Japanese organizations reflected their wish to
improve bilateral relations.
During the one-and-a-half-hour meeting, Hu said that friendly Sino-Japanese
ties were in the fundamental interests of the two peoples and contributed to
peace and stability in Asia and the world at large.
Hu said the Chinese Government has a clear, consistent and unswerving stance
towards its relations with Japan.
"We will abide by the principles of the three Sino-Japanese political
documents ... and continue to adhere to the principle of 'taking history as a
mirror and looking into the future,'" said Hu.