China and Japan agree to rescue ties

JAKARTA - The leaders of China and Japan agreed to mend ruptured ties during ice-breaking talks in Jakarta, though Chinese President Hu Jintao said Japan needed to learn from its wartime past.

They met a day after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made an unusually public apology for Japan's past atrocities in Asia during a summit of Asian and African leaders in the Indonesian capital.

Ties between the Asian giants had deteriorated to their worst since the normalisation of relations in 1972, putting at risk economic links worth US$212 billion in annual trade.

"If the appearance of serious problems in Sino-Japanese relations is not handled properly ... not only will it be detrimental to China and Japan, but it will also affect the stability and development of Asia," Hu told reporters.

"Remorse expressed for the war of aggression should be translated into action. (Japan) should never do anything again that would hurt the feelings of the Chinese people or the people of other Asian countries."

Koizumi said he had had a frank and meaningful exchange with Hu, adding the two had agreed not to debate Japan's wartime history or visits by Japanese politicians to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo, both sources of much of the friction.

"We were able to confirm at the meeting that, rather than criticising each other's past shortcomings and aggravating antagonistic feelings, we should make efforts to develop the bilateral friendship," Koizumi told a news conference after the one-hour talks.

"Japan and China need each other now more than ever before."

Hu said differences between the countries needed to be resolved through dialogue. Japan also needed to meet its commitment not to support independence for Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, Hu added.

There have been violent anti-Japan demonstrations in China over school history textbooks that critics say sugarcoat Japan's wartime history and over other irritants, including Tokyo's campaign for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Beijing says 35 million Chinese were killed or wounded during Japan's 1931-45 occupation of much of the country.

The two leaders shook hands as they met in a hotel ballroom. Koizumi used both hands and appeared relaxed while Hu was stiff and expressionless. When they sat opposite each other at a long table, Koizumi told Hu about his trip earlier in the day to the tsunami-hit province of Aceh.

"I went to Aceh province today ... I saw that a roof of a two-storey building had been destroyed by the tsunami and realised how tall the waves were," Koizumi said before reporters were ushered out of the room.

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On Friday, Koizumi apologised in a speech before 100 Asian and African leaders, including Hu, for the "tremendous damage and suffering" inflicted by Japan in past wars.

Asked earlier about Chinese government comments that action was more important than words, Koizumi, speaking in Aceh, said:

"In the last 60 years we have became an economic superpower and not a military state. (We are a) peaceful nation reflecting on the experience of the war."

But, showing how easily ties can be upset, a Japanese cabinet minister and 80 other parliamentarians paid their respects on Friday at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, a symbol of the animosity, prompting an angry response from Beijing.

Relations with China chilled markedly after Koizumi took office in 2001 and began annual visits to the shrine.

He has not visited yet this year. Asked about his visits, Koizumi did not say whether he would continue them or not, merely saying: "I would deal appropriately with Yasukuni."

Japanese officials said Koizumi did not demand an apology or compensation for damage done to Japanese missions in China in the past few weeks. But he did ask Beijing to take appropriate measures to protect Japanese interests in China.

China launched a campaign to cool down tempers this week. It sent veteran diplomats to give lectures on the benefits as well as the history of Sino-Japanese ties to Communist Party members and officials as well as university students, who were urged to focus on their studies.

Police also issued a strong warning on Thursday that those who took part in unauthorised protests would be punished.

 

- REUTERS