Ｓｔａｔｅ Ｃｏｕｎｃｉｌｌｏｒ Ｔａｎｇ Ｊｉａｘｕａｎ Ｍｅｅｔｓ ｗｉｔｈ Ｙｏｓｈｉｔａｋａ Ｍｕｒａｔａ

On December 13， 2005， State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan met with Yoshitaka Murata， member of the House of Representatives and former chairman of the National Public Safety Commission of Japan. Also present at the meeting were Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi who was on furlough at home， Jing Dunquan， CPAFFC vice president， and Kong Xuanyou， deputy director general of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry.

Tang expressed welcome to Murata’s visit to China， and spoke highly of his contribution to maintaining healthy development of Sino-Japanese relations and promoting exchanges and cooperation between the public security departments of the two countries when he served as chairman of the National Public Safety Commission. Tang hoped that Murata would continue to play his role in the Japanese political circles and make new contributions to pushing Sino-Japanese relations back to the track of normal development as soon as possible.

Tang expounded China’s view on the current Sino-Japanese relations and pointed out that the Sino-Japanese political relations are now facing the most complex situation since the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The crucial cause of it is Japanese leaders’ insistence on paying homage to the Yasukuni Shrine. The Chinese Government opposes Japanese leaders’ visit to the Yasukuni Shrine where 14 top war criminals of the Second World War are honoured， among whom 13 were directly involved in planning and commanding the aggressive war against China. The Japanese leaders’ visits to the Yasukuni Shrine have badly hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and jeopardized the political foundation of Sino-Japanese relations.

Yoshitaka Murata expressed his thanks for Tang’s meeting with him amid his busy schedule， and worries about the current situation of Japan-China relations. Murata said， he， as a person who has experienced the course of the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic relations， thinks that the spirit of the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement signed by Premier Zhou Enlai and Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka is of great importance. If the two sides had come back to that spirit， there would not have been so many problems in bilateral relations.

Tang Jiaxuan said， China will soon issue a white paper on peaceful development which will clearly define the orientation of China’s future development. As to military expenditure， China’s is much less than Japan’s. China issues the White Paper on Defence regularly. But some people look at China through coloured spectacles and turned a blind eye to China’s actual situation and its efforts to improve transparency. On historical issues， Tang said， we stress regarding history as a mirror. By emphasizing the need to always remember the past， we do not mean to continue the hatred. Instead we want to draw lessons from history and be forward-looking and ensure lasting friendship between the two peoples for generations to come. We have never thought of playing the “history” card. The problem lies in that if the Japanese side lacks its due sincerity and action in “drawing lessons from history”， then how can it be forward-looking? Tang hoped that the two sides would work jointly for the same good and push Sino-Japanese relations back to the track of normal development as soon as possible.

Murata said， though Japan-China relations have met many problems， most of the Japanese people have not changed their minds on maintaining friendly relations with China. He hoped that the two countries would solve problems through dialogue. Though having retired from the post of chairman of the National Public Safety Commission， he， as a political figure， will continue to make efforts to promote the development of the relations between the two countries and enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples.