He said China would adhere to its good neighbourly foreign policy and would
not pose a threat or challenge to any country.
"China's national defence policy is completely defensive in nature and is
aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"China has not, and will never, seek hegemony," he said, rejecting the "China
threat" theory as totally groundless.
Ryutaro Hashimoto and other heads of the Japanese organizations expressed
appreciation for the meeting and vowed to continue to play an important role in
promoting exchanges.
The seven Japanese organizations are: the Japanese Council for the Promotion
of International Trade, Association of Dietmen League for Japan-China
Friendship, Japan-China Friendship Association, Japan-China Cultural Exchange
Association, Japan-China Association on Economy and Trade, Japan-China Society,
and Japan-China Friendship Centre.
In another development, China on Friday lodged a strong protest against
Japan's latest revision of a batch of new senior middle school textbooks
regarding the Diaoyu Islands.
A Foreign Ministry official in charge of Asian affairs summoned the
ambassador of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing to protest against the revision,
which claimed the Diaoyu Islands were Japanese territory.
"The Diaoyu Islands have been Chinese territory since ancient times. China
holds indisputable legal evidence of ownership," he said.
Japan completed its annual review of school textbooks on Wednesday after
ordering publishers to state clearly Tokyo's claim to certain territories,
including the Diaoyu Islands.
The official said the Japanese move constituted an obvious infringement upon
China's territorial sovereignty.
"Any unilateral action by the Japanese side is illegal and invalid," the
official said.
He asked Japan to promptly correct the erroneous decision and actions.
Xinhua contributed to the story
(China Daily 04/01/2006 page1)