Chinese Premier seeks friendship with Japan

JAPAN: Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Thursday extended an offer of friendship to Japan, striking a conciliatory tone on wartime history — an issue that has dogged relations for years.

Wen, making the first address to the Japanese parliament by a Chinese leader in more than two decades as part of his fence-mending visit, urged the Asian powers to resolve their disputes peacefully.

“The Chinese public must foster friendship with Japanese people,” he said, the flags of the two countries waving behind the podium.

Wen, the first Chinese premier to visit Tokyo in seven years, laid the blame for Japan’s invasion and 1931-1945 occupation of China — still a bitter memory for many Chinese — on the shoulders of a “limited number” of wartime leaders. He also acknowledged the Japanese people had suffered as well.

“As the Chinese leaders of the past generations have said, the responsibility for the war of aggression should rest with a limited number of militarists,” Wen said.

“The general Japanese public were also victims of the war.”

China and Japan have become increasingly economically interlinked, with Japan counting on its giant neighbour as a vital source both for workers and for middle-class consumers.

Wen, who met Abe Wednesday for a dinner of sushi and Japanese beef, told Japanese lawmakers Thursday that while their prime minister’s visit to Beijing had broken the ice, he aimed to “melt” the ice with his trip to Tokyo.

The Chinese premier did his best to take his message of friendship to the public, taking an early morning jog before his address to parliament.

Sporting black sportswear bearing logos for next year’s Beijing Olympics, the 64-year-old Wen jogged around a Tokyo park, chatted with members of the public and showed off a few tai chi moves.

“What do you do for a living?” Wen asked one woman through a translator, as a group of security guards and Chinese ambassador to Tokyo Wang Yi looked on.

“I am a barber,” she replied in Japanese.

“I am Wen Jiabao,” he replied.

“I saw you on TV,” she said.

In his address to the Japanese parliament, Wen made no reference to any specific disputes on history such as the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo or Abe’s recent controversial remarks on World War II sex slaves.

Instead, he said he understood Japan’s global aspirations.

“We understand Japan’s desire to play a yet greater role,” Wen said.

Earlier Wen Jiabao said Thursday that Beijing would never tolerate Taiwan’s independence and asked Japan to exercise caution on the issue.

“The Taiwan issue affects China’s core interests,” Wen said in an address to the Japanese parliament, the first by a Chinese leader in more than 20 years.

“We will continue to do our utmost to resolve the Taiwan issue peacefully. We will never tolerate Taiwan independence,” he said.

Wen sounded a warning to Japan, which recognises only Beijing as China’s legitimate government but where some prominent lawmakers are known for sympathy to Taiwan.

“We will squarely protest any move to legal independence by Taiwan’s authorities and separatist movements,” Wen said.

“I ask Japan to deal cautiously with this issue,” he said.

Tokyo, Tursday, AFP.