Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, a favorite to run as Japan's next prime minister, said he personally wants a strong Sino-Japanese relationship that would serve the common interests of both countries. He was speaking at a high-profile forum sponsored by the China Daily, Peking University and Japanese think-tank Genron NPO in Tokyo on Thursday.

 

Abe attributed the current difficulties in bilateral ties to "misunderstandings" that have occurred between the two Asian giants since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1972.

 

During his keynote speech at the two-day forum, Abe did not touch on the sensitive issue of whether he, if elected as Japan's next PM, would continue in Junichiro Koizumi's footsteps and pay homage at the Yasukuni Shrine, the core stone harming the two countries' political ties.

 

Shortly after taking office in 2001, Koizumi began making pilgrimages to the shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals, a move that has been at the center of strained political ties between China and Japan for the past five years.

 

According to Abe, in 1980, 78 percent of Japanese people had positive attitudes towards China, but this percentage had dropped to only 32 percent some 25 years later. In China, only 15 percent of the population said they felt positively towards Japan.

 

"For me, these are shocking figures. We must build a China-Japan relationship that will encourage these figures to increase naturally. One of the reasons the figures are currently so low is likely due to misunderstandings (between the two countries)," Abe said.

 

The theme of this year's forum is "Facing Asia's Future -- Building New China-Japan Relations." This is the second of its kind, the first was held in Beijing last August.

 

Abe did not mention the building of a new Japanese National Cemetery where visiting foreign leaders could lay wreaths to honor Japan's war dead, an issue that is occasionally reported in the Japanese press. If a cemetery were to be built, the embarrassing conflict concerning the Yasukuni Shrine would be no more.?

 

Chinese ambassador to Japan Wang Yi told the forum that if Tokyo decides to remove the political obstacles that have chilled the relationship between the two countries, Beijing is sure to respond with good will.

 

Wang said that one of the crucial issues facing the two is reestablishing mutual understanding and trust, based on which a cordial relationship would be possible, as witnessed and experienced by older generations of Chinese and Japanese leaders.

 

He proceeded to express the hope that the two could stick to the road of peaceful development, to better cooperate and interact for the benefit of Asia and the world.

 

Chinese President Hu Jintao, at a March meeting with the heads of seven Japan-China friendship organizations, said Beijing values the Sino-Japanese relationship and regards it as one of the world's most important bilateral relationships. China has made unswerving efforts to improve ties, he added.

 

Further, Hu has offered to enter into talks with Japan's top leaders as soon as they make an unequivocal decision to stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.

 

(Chinadaily.com.cn August 3, 2006)