Japan's prime minister sends letter to Chinese president to smooth relations
BEIJING — Visiting Japanese Parliamentary Senior Foreign Vice Minister Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi has met with a senior Chinese government official to hand over a letter from Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to Chinese President Hu Jintao, a missive meant to keep bilateral relations from further deteriorating after recent territorial spats and an ensuing attack on a Japanese ambassador's car.
Yamaguchi met Friday with Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo at Zhongnanhai, the central government compound in Beijing. Relations between the two countries have gone south since Hong Kong activists illegally landed on the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture on Aug. 15.
Yamaguchi told the press that day that the letter reiterated the importance of promoting a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests, as this year marks the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties.
The letter also suggested close communication between high-level officials, including political discussions, as a useful tactic to further develop Japan-China relations.
Concerning the recent attack on Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa's car, Yamaguchi said he requested China "address the issue swiftly and strictly" in a meeting with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying on Thursday. According to Yamaguchi, the Chinese side responded by saying it was addressing the matter in line with its domestic laws.
"There will be an APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit on Sept. 8," Yamaguchi said, indicating the government would try to arrange a meeting between Noda and Hu on the sidelines of the summit.
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©2012 The Yomiuri Shimbun (Tokyo)
Distributed by MCT Information Services
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