Ｖｉｃｅ Ｐｒｅｓｉｄｅｎｔ Ｚｅｎｇ Ｑｉｎｇｈｏｎｇ Ｍｅｅｔｓ ｗｉｔｈ ＪＣＦＡ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ

On the morning of November 8， 2006， Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong met with the delegation of Japan-China Friendship Association (JCFA) led by its honorary adviser Kiromu Nonaka and its president Ikuo Hirayama and family members of friendly personages Tokuma Utsunomiya and Kinkazu Saionji in the Great Hall of the People. The delegation consisted of presidents of Japan’s metropolitan and prefectural JCFAs. Present at the meeting were Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei and CPAFFC Vice President Jing Dunquan.

Vice President Zeng Qinghong said， founded in 1950， the JCFA is the first and the largest friendship-with-China organization in Japan. Overcoming all kinds of difficulties over the past decades， our friends at the JCFA have made great contributions to the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan， the signing of Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship Treaty and the development of good-neighbourly relations of friendship and cooperation. 2006 marks the centenary of the birth of Mr. Tokuma Utsunomiya and Mr. Kinkazu Saionji， respected friends of the Chinese people. They had made important contributions to the resumption and development of the postwar Sino-Japanese relations in their lifetime and won the respect of both the Chinese and Japanese people. Today， the centenary commemoration co-sponsored by the China-Japan Friendship Association and the JCFA is a significant event. The offspring of Mr. Utsunomiya and Mr. Saionji have also come to Beijing. I hope that you will carry on the behests of your fathers and make fresh contributions to the cause of China-Japan friendship.

Zeng Qinghong continued， the Chinese government attaches great importance to Sino-Japanese relations and adopts a policy of friendship with Japan. It wishes to develop good-neighbourly cooperative relations with Japan in the spirit of “Taking history as a mirror and looking to the future” and work hard to achieve the goals of peaceful coexistence， lasting friendship， mutually beneficial cooperation and common development of our two countries.

Zeng Qinghong noted， to promote bilateral friendly relations， both China and Japan should grasp the “overall interests” and the “three bases”. The “overall interests” are lasting friendship between China and Japan. This is the experience of our two peoples in their friendly contact over the past more than 2，000 years and their common aspiration. It conforms to their fundamental interests and is also conducive to peace and stability in Asia and the world at large. The “three bases” are: firstly， to constantly consolidate the political basis of Sino-Japanese relations. The China-Japan Joint Statement， the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship and the China-Japan Joint Declaration constitute the political basis of Sino-Japanese relations. The two sides should act in line with the three political documents to ensure the sound development of bilateral relations. Secondly， to continue to consolidate the basis for cultivating friendly feelings between our two peoples. The two sides should make great effort to carry out exchanges in various fields including culture， health， and sports between the governments， the parliaments， political parties and social groups of our two countries to deepen mutual understanding and friendship from the central to local government， from governmental to nongovernmental ties and from political to economic field. Thirdly， to expand the basis of common interests. The two sides should， through the exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields， expand common interests and achieve the win-win result. Lasting friendship between China and Japan is in the fundamental interests of our two countries and our two peoples. As long as the two sides grasp the “overall interests” and the “three bases”， Sino-Japanese friendly relations will develop in width and depth.