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Meeting with State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan

On the afternoon of April 3， State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan met with Koji Kimura， general director of the Japanese Table Tennis Association， and his party in the Great Hall of the People. Present at the meeting were Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei， CPAFFC Vice President Jing Dunquan， Deputy Director of the General Administration of Sport Xiao Tian， President of the Chinese Table Tennis Association Xu Yingsheng， and others.

Tang Jiaxuan， first of all， expressed welcome to Koji Kimura and his party and spoke highly of the positive efforts made by the Japanese sports circles over the years to promote sports exchanges and develop people-to-people friendly relations between China and Japan. He said， it is of great significance that the Japanese Table Tennis Association organized a delegation to visit China to take part in the activities marking the 50th anniversary of sports exchange between China and Japan at the present when Sino-Japanese relations are faced with difficulties.

Tang Jiaxuan said， 50 years ago， having overcome many difficulties and obstacles， personages of insight in the Japanese sports circles invited the Chinese table tennis team to take part in the 23rd World Table Tennis Championships held in Tokyo， the first sports exchange between the two countries since the founding of New China. In the 1960s， under the care of Premier Zhou Enlai， a batch of excellent Japanese coaches and athletes such as well-known Japanese volleyball coach Hirofumi Daimatsu and Mr. Koji Kimura and Ms. Kimiyo Matsuzaki present today were invited to China to pass on their technical skills in training and their experience in competition， which played a dynamic role in raising the level of China’s competitive sports. The achievements of China’s competitive sports today also embody the contributions by the Japanese coaches and friends present. When we commemorate the 50th anniversary of sports exchange between China and Japan， we cherish all the more the memory of Mr. Koji Goto， former president of the Japanese Table Tennis Association. In 1971， risking his life and taking no heed of the threat by the Japanese rightist forces， Koji Goto， together with friends of the JTTA， overcame various obstacles and interference and resolutely invited the Chinese table tennis delegation to take part in the 31st World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya. This championships became a bridge between China and Japan as well as all the countries in the world to enhance friendship and increase understanding， played a positive role in the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan， and built the stage for the later world-famous “ping-pong diplomacy” which realized the astonishing feat of “small balls rolling the globe”.

Tang Jiaxuan pointed out， the Chinese Government and people have always attached great importance to China-Japan relations. Despite many difficulties， China has never changed its fundamental principles of honoring China-Japan friendship. When President Hu Jintao met with the heads of seven Japan-China Friendship organizations on March 31， he reiterated that the Chinese government will always look at China-Japan relations from the strategic and long-term perspective and keep committed to the peaceful coexistence， lasting friendship， mutually beneficial cooperation between the two nations and common development. Tang noted， sports exchange is an indispensable important part of nongovernmental friendly exchange between the two countries. 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will provide an important opportunity and platform for sports exchange between the two countries. We are ready to make joint efforts with the Japanese side to enhance friendly exchanges between the two peoples including sports exchange and carry out pragmatic cooperation in various fields. He expressed the hope that the sports circles of the two countries would continue and carry forward the friendship tradition and make fresh contributions to the development of bilateral relations.

Koji Kimura， on behalf of the delegation， thanked State Councillor Tang for meeting with them among his pressing affairs. He said， after listening to the State Councillor recalling the history of bilateral sports exchange in the past 50 years， I deeply felt that Japan-China friendship is hard-won and gained a better understanding of the importance of sports exchange between our two countries. On the present visit， apart from ping-pong veterans forming the majority of the delegation， I also brought with me renowned Japanese athlete Ai Fukuhara and young athletes who have done well in domestic competitions with the aim of letting them experience and learn the history of bilateral friendly and sports exchanges so that they will pass on the friendship forged between our two peoples to the next generation.

Commemoration Reception Held in Beijing

On the evening of April 1， the China-Japan Friendship Association (CJFA) and the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA) jointly held a reception in the Great Hall of the People to mark the 50th anniversary of sports exchange between China and Japan. Song Jian， president of the CJFA， Li Menghua and Rong Gaotang， chairmen of the former State Physical Culture and Sports Commission， Chinese veteran coaches and athletes who took part in the exchanges with the Japanese table tennis circles in the 1950s and 1960s， and personages who have for years engaged in the work of China-Japan nongovernmental friendship， attended the reception.

In his speech， Song Jian gave high appraisal of the contributions the JTTA has made over the years to the development of China-Japan friendship and sports exchange and expressed his gratitude. He said， since the normalization of diplomatic relations and with the joint efforts by the governments and nongovernmental friendly personages of various circles of the two countries， great headway has been made in sports exchange and cooperation between the two countries， which have served as ties for mutual understanding and contact between the two peoples and play an important role in the development of relations of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. Historical experience has proved that to develop China-Japan friendly relations is in the fundamental interests of both the Chinese and Japanese people and conducive to peace and stability in Asia and the world at large. He hoped that the two sides would take the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Sino-Japanese sports exchange as a new starting point and continue to work hard to promote the growth of good-neighbourly bilateral relations of cooperation.

Koji Kimura said in his speech， as participants and witnesses of the history of sports exchange between the two countries， we should look to the future while keeping firmly in mind the profound friendship of the past 50 years， educate the next generation and cultivate successors so as to push ahead the development of bilateral sports exchange and friendly relations.

The JTTA delegation with General Director Koji Kimura as the leader visited China from March 31 to April 4 at the invitation of the CJFA and took part in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the sports exchange between China and Japan. During its stay in Beijing， the delegation called on the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad， visited the sports venues under construction for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games， watched a training session of the Chinese table tennis team， and had a get-together and planted trees of friendship with the Chinese ping-pong veterans. The young Japanese athletes also attended a training session and a match with Chinese youngsters at the Beijing Shichahai Sports School.