Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｈｕ Ｊｉｎｔａｏ Ｍｅｅｔｓ ｗｉｔｈ ＤＬＪＣＦ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ

President Hu Jintao met with the Japanese delegation of the Dietmen’s League for Japan-China Friendship led by Masahiko Komura， president of the League and member of the House of Representatives from the Liberal Democratic Party， in the Great Hall of the People on the afternoon of May 8. Present at the meeting were Song Jian， president of the China-Japan Friendship Association， Dai Bingguo， vice foreign minister， Chen Shiju， director of the Office of President Hu Jintao， Chen Yongchang， CPAFFC vice president and Koreshige Anami， Japanese ambassador to China.

President Hu Jintao expressed warm welcome to Masahiko Komura and his delegation to visit China. Masahiko Komura thanked the President for taking time off his busy schedule to meet with the delegation and handed President Hu Jintao a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

President Hu Jintao said， in the past more than 30 years since the normalization of diplomatic relations， China and Japan have achieved marked progress in their bilateral relations and positive results in the exchanges and cooperation in various fields. The Sino-Japanese relations we enjoy today is the result of concerted efforts and hard work made over the years by the governments and personages of insight of the two countries including friendship organizations such as the Dietmen’s League for Japan-China Friendship. The development of Sino-Japanese relations has brought real benefit to the people of our two countries and also made important contributions to peace， stability and development in Asia and the world， which we should treasure dearly.

Hu Jintao stressed， as countries with major influence in Asia and the world， China and Japan shoulder important responsibility for safeguarding world peace and promoting common development. Faced with the new situation it is of great significance to further consolidate and develop the good-neighbourly and friendly bilateral relations. The leaders and statesmen of China and Japan should grasp firmly the general direction of the development of bilateral relations， abide by the principles laid down in the three political documents signed by the two countries， persist in drawing lessons from history and looking to the future and properly handle the issues of history and Taiwan. They should do more things to advance Sino-Japanese friendship， refrain from doing anything that will hurt the feelings of the people of the two countries， and make tireless concerted efforts to build a new-type Sino-Japanese relationship based on “friendship， cooperation， mutual benefit and double win”.

Masahiko Komura agreed with President Hu Jintao on the development of Sino-Japanese relations. He said， Japan-China relations， especially economic and trade relations have developed soundly. The recovery of the Japanese economy was， to a certain extent， benefited from the economic development in China. The two countries should continue to make full use of the complementariness of the two economies in the future and work for the common development and a double win result.

Komura said， Japan adheres and attaches great importance to the Murayama Statements made in 1995 and the position defined in the Japan-China Joint Declaration issued in 1998， and does not support the so-called “two Chinas” and “one China， one Taiwan”. Japan has never changed this stand.

President Hu expressed appreciation of Japan’s repeated reiteration of its one-China stance on the Taiwan issue and pointed out， the present situation is very complicated in the Taiwan Straits. The Taiwan authority stubbornly clings to “Taiwan independence”， which is the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits. He hoped that the Japanese side would maintain vigilance.

President Hu spoke highly of the contributions the Dietmen’s League for Japan-China Friendship has made to the development of China-Japan relations. He said， under the leadership of all previous presidents including Aiichiro Fujiyama， Seigo Hamano， Yoshimi Furui and Masayoshi Ito， the League has worked for China-Japan friendship over the years and played an important role and made valuable contributions to the cause of China-Japan friendship. He expressed the hope that under the leadership of President Komura the League would continue to carry forward its fine tradition of people-to-people friendship， play a bridging role for the friendly contact between our two peoples， encourage and support more young people to plunge themselves into the cause of Sino-Japanese friendship， work hard to cultivate successors to Sino-Japanese friendship and make new contributions to the long-term， steady and sound development of Sino-Japanese good-neighbourly relations of friendship and cooperation.

Komura said， the Dietmen’s League for Japan-China Friendship is the biggest trans-party organization in the Japanese political circles， which believes in and has enthusiasm for Japan-China friendship. At present the League has a membership of 395 who are from both houses of the Japanese Diet. They all hope to see friendly bilateral relations between Japan and China. The League will work to promote the exchanges between the young politicians of our two countries， enhance the younger generation’s understanding of each other’s countries and make continuous efforts to develop friendly bilateral relations and deepen mutual understanding and trust.

The delegation visited Beijing from May 8 to 9 at the invitation of the China-Japan Friendship Association.