Beijing-Tokyo ties deserve brighter future

Jiang Jianguo, minister of the State Council Information Office, also delivers a speech at the Beijing-Tokyo forum on Tuesday.[Photo/IC]

Editor's note: Jiang Jianguo, minister of the State Council Information Office, also delivers a speech at the Beijing-Tokyo forum on Tuesday. Excerpts translated from the Chinese version of the speech follow:

The annual Beijing-Tokyo Forum, which is in its 12th year, has become a representative civil dialogue platform between China and Japan. It has helped strengthen friendship between Chinese and Japanese peoples from various walks and develop Sino-Japanese relations.

When President Xi Jinping met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, earlier this month, he explained China's basic stance on improving bilateral ties. He said the two sides should shelve their differences and put bilateral ties on the right track.

Xi emphasized that China's stance is not influenced by external disturbances, and is clear, unswerving and constant. The 12th Beijing-Tokyo Forum is being held in Tokyo against this background and under the theme of "Sino-Japanese Cooperation for Asian and Global Peace and Development". The forum is a platform for sincere and friendly dialogues between media outlets, think tanks and enterprises from the two sides in the quest to seek ways to improve China-Japan relations.

To improve China-Japan ties, I have four suggestions.

To begin with, the two countries must pay attention to direction of the development of bilateral ties. Although the two countries have fought wars, the main theme of bilateral ties remains peace, friendship and cooperation, which also meet people's expectations and conform to the trend of the times.

Good relations between two big countries such as China and Japan, the world's second- and third- largest economies, not only serve the interests of the peoples in the two countries, but also facilitate peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond.

Second, we must strengthen our respective sense of responsibility and be aware of the threats crises pose. In the 1970s, the leaders of the two countries made the important political decision of normalizing diplomatic relations, in order to advance mutual interest and open a new chapter in Sino-Japanese ties. We should shoulder that historical responsibility to forge ahead into the future.

In these difficult times, we should learn from the older generation's political wisdom and sense of responsibility, turn a crisis into opportunity, and create conditions for the healthy development of China-Japan relations.

Third, we should highlight the positive facets of bilateral ties while reducing the negative factors. The common interests and concerns of China and Japan overshadow their differences. Hence, the two countries should pursue positive policies, maintain political and diplomatic contacts, properly handle key issues, strengthen exchange and cooperation, create favorable public opinions for each other, deepen win-win cooperation and reduce conflicts and differences.

And fourth, the two sides should also manage their old differences well and prevent new problems from emerging. Some people in Japan seem interested in interfering in the South China Sea issue even though Japan has no stakes in it. We should foil their designs because they want to create new differences between China and Japan.