Ｍｅｅｔｉｎｇ ｏｎ Ｃｈｉｎａ－Ｊａｐａｎ Ｅｘｃｈａｎｇｅ ｆｏｒ Ｐｅａｃｅ ａｎｄ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ｈｅｌｄ ｉｎ Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression， the CPAFFC， the China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA) and the Japan-China Friendship Association jointly held a Meeting on China-Japan Exchange for Peace and Friendship in Beijing on August 25， 2005. Over 200 Japanese personages from various circles specially came to China to attend the meeting.

In his speech， CPAFFC President Chen Haosu said， in the long course of China and Japan friendly relations over two thousand years， the two countries influenced each other in the political， economic and cultural fields， laying solid foundation for the development of both countries. Today， the purpose of our solemnly commemorating the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression is neither to oppose the Japanese people nor to conduct “anti-Japan education” as some people said. We believe that the war of aggression against China was launched by Japanese militarists， and the broad masses of the Japanese people were the victims of the war. During the war many Japanese progressive personages suffered persecution because of opposing the war. They represented the real conscience of the Japanese people. After the war the Japanese progressive personages devoted themselves for years to the cause of Japan-China friendship and made contribution to the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic relations and steady development of the cause of Japan-Chinafriendship and cooperation. Friendship and cooperation are the mainstream of China-Japan relations. We should be full of confidence in the development of China-Japan relations in the 21st century.

Chen continued， we should also face up to the problems in the current China-Japan relations. As the history issue has not been correctly handled and new contradictions in practical problems have emerged， the current China-Japan relations are at low ebb. The abhorrence that the people of the two countries feel towards each other is most worrisome. Chen said， we are ready to carry out close cooperation with the Japanese friendly personages and do more work to enhance mutual understanding so as to let more people of the two countries understand the importance of the cause of China-Japan friendship. We should replace suspicion with understanding and hostility with cooperation， and pass a better China-Japan relationship on to the next generation and let friendship last from generation to generation.

In his speech， Keiichi Ito， president of the JCFA， said， we Japanese (Japanese participants of the meeting) express our sincere condolence and repentance to thousands upon thousands of the Chinese people who died in the Japanese war of aggression， and vow to try our best to stop the Japanese Government from repeating the mistake of launching war of aggression.

Ito said， recently there have appeared new trends of moves by the Japanese government. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi repeatedly pays visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. The Japanese government has approved and compulsorily popularized the textbook that distorts the history of aggression， and is carrying out so-called patriotic education， in fact being narrow patriotism， through approval of the amendment of the Basic Education Law. By flaunting the banner of supporting the reconstruction of Iraq， it has defied the peace Constitution and sent troops to Iraq， and tries to legalize the use of force abroad by amending Article 9 of the Constitution. The Japanese media follow the right-deviation of the political and financial circles and incite xenophobia against China and Korea. People are worried about all these dangerous tendencies.

Ito continued， I also want to tell the Chinese friends that many Japanese people oppose the rightist line pursued by the Japanese government. The aspiration of the broad masses of the Japanese people for peace is the root cause of the existence and development of the movement of opposing war and striving for peace and international friendship that the JCFA has been carrying out. In the future， the JCFA will continue its efforts to oppose war and strive for peace and further mobilize public opinion for establishing friendly and cooperative relation between the peoples of Japan and Asia as well as other countries in the world. Ito said， now in Japan the movement of abiding by Article 9 of the Constitution is gradually growing into a national movement， and there have appeared some organizations such as the Society of (Constitution) Article 9 founded by Kenzaburou Oe and Hisashi Inoue. The stipulation in the Article 9 of forever renouncing war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes is the conclusion Japan reached through experience and repentance of the unheard of sufferings that its war of aggression had brought to China and other Asian countries， an indispensable condition for Japan to return to the international community and also the proclamation of the rebirth of Japan as a peaceful country and the commitment it had made to the international community. The determination and pledge expressed in Article 9 are also the pledge of opposing war and striving for peace and Japan-China friendship.

Ito said， currently， the Japanese and Chinese people are faced with many problems and obstacles， mainly resulting from the Japanese government’s long-time ambiguous attitude towards the history of its war of aggression. The pressing task now is to enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples and clear the obstacles and create a relationship of real peace and friendship. He hoped that this meeting would help enhance mutual understanding between the two countries and contribute to further developing friendly and cooperative relations between the Japanese and Chinese people.

On the afternoon of August 24， Nie Li， daughter of Marshal Nie Rongzhen and CPAFFC President Chen Haosu met with Mihoko Kakoi who was invited by the CJFA to attend the Meeting on China-Japan Exchange for Peace and Friendship in Beijing. Mihoko Kakoi was the little Japanese girl whom Marshal Nie saved during the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Nie Li welcomed Mihoko to “come home” again， and recalled what Marshal Nie said during his meeting with Mihoko in 1980: “Both the Chinese and Japanese people suffered greatly during the Japanese war of aggression. You are an example in point. Today I am glad to see that your family leads a happy life. I hope that the people of the two countries will maintain friendship from generation to generation.” Chen Haosu said， the story that the Eighth Route Army led by Marshal Nie saved Mihoko in the war-ridden time has become a much-told tale in the history of China-Japan relations. It has a special significance that on the occasion of our commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression， Ms. Mihoko came to China to participate together with the Chinese people in the commemorative activities.

Mihoko expressed her truly sincere thanks to Nie Li and the Chinese people for their warm welcome and said to the Chinese personages and correspondents present at the meeting that she hoped that the people of Japan and China will maintain peace and friendship forever and never let the past tragedy be repeated.