Leaders of people-to-people friendship organizations from China and Japan meet online,and issue a joint declaration on solidarity and cooperation,opposing politicizing of novel coronavirus

Zeng Guangming

O n the afternoon of July 19， Lin Songtian， president of the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries； Cheng Yonghua， executive vice president of the China-Japan Friendship Association； Utsunomiya Tokuichiro， vice-president of the Japan-China Friendship Asso- ciation； Okazaki Yutaka， chairman of the JCFA； and leaders of subnational Japan-China friendship associations in Tokyo， Osaka， Nagano， Hokkaido and Kochi， held a video meeting.

Lin first thanked President Uichiro Niwa of the JCFA for his article extending congratulations for the centennial of the Communist Party of China published in Japan and China， the official newspaper of the JCFA. Lin wished him an early recovery of health and appreciated the valuable contribution made by the JCFA to the development of China-Japan friendship over the years.

Lin noted that the Delta variant and other mutant strains of COVID-19 continue to spread. Changes unseen in a century and the pandemic of the century are overlapping and tumbling along. The world is intertwined with chaos and changes.

“It may be messy，” he said， “but the big trend is clear and definite. The 21st century is the century of Asia. The worlds political and economic center is shifting from West to East at an accelerating pace. It has become an unstoppable historical trend.”

Lin noted that COVID-19 continues to rage globally， seriously threatening the lives， health and safety of the people. Unfortunately， he said， the United States is engaged in an attempt to maintain its hegemony； it regards China as its “most serious competitor”； and it does its utmost to contain and suppress Chinas development. It has used all means to discredit China and spread the “lie of the century” that the coronavirus was leaked from a lab in China.

Lin said that tracing the origins of the virus is a scientific issue， not a political one. The “political virus” can not eliminate the coronavirus； using intelligence agencies rather than scientists to speculate on the origins of novel coronavirus is an inhumane political manipulation that will severely undermine global cooperation against the pandemic and cost the precious lives of more innocent people around the world. He noted that a growing number of worldrenowned scientists with a sense of conscience and justice are outraged by the US moves.

Lin said China and Japan are important neighbors and cooperative partners. As major countries in Asia and the world， the two are shouldering the important responsibilities of maintaining regional and world peace and stability and promoting common development and prosperity. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations. As people-to-people friendship organizations， we should give voice to rationality and justice and urge all parties in both countries to implement the important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on the phone last year. We should adhere to the principles and spirit of the four political documents about our bilateral relations， and ensure that the relationship does not founder， stagger， backslide or become embroiled in the so-called major power confrontation， so as to keep China-Japan relations on the right track steadily and ceaselessly.

The Japanese participants unanimously congratulated the CPC on its centennial and praised China for its great achievements. They said that since the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan in 1972， the two sides have cooperated to make positive contributions to regional peace， stability， development and prosperity. They said they would like to take the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations next year as an opportunity to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and make joint efforts to promote the sound development of bilateral relations.

Cheng Yonghua said the pandemic is still raging， but the friendship between the two peoples has not been isolated by it， and the peoples desire to enhance exchanges and mutual trust is still strong. The CJFA is ready to work with friends from the JCFA to hold high the banner of China-Japan friendship and carry forward the fine tradition of “promoting official relations through people-to-people diplomacy”.

“We are willing to break new ground for China-Japan people-to-people friendship and do more useful work to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples and continuously contribute to the development of China-Japan relations in the new era，” Cheng said.

The two sides congratulated each other on the Tokyo Olympic Games and Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Both sides were commended for their hard work and the Olympic spirit they demonstrated in preparing for hosting the Games， given the daunting task of preventing and controlling COVID-19. They expressed willingness to support each other， strengthen exchanges and cooperation and learn from each oth-ers strong points to make the Olympic events a complete success. With the Olympic moment in Asia， they would jointly light a beacon for mankind to come out of the haze of COVID-19 and move forward.

The two sides also held candid and friendly exchanges on strengthening exchanges and cooperation between the youths， culture， sports， subnational governments， media and think tanks. They reached broad consensus and reviewed and adopted a Joint Declaration by the CPAFFC， the CJFA and the JCFA on Solidarity and Cooperation and Opposing the Politicization of Novel Coronavirus. The full text follows.

We， the Chinese Peoples Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， the China-Japan Friendship Association and the Japan-China Friendship Association， a public welfare society， held a video meeting on July 19， 2021. We carried out candid exchanges on strengthening solidarity and cooperation， jointly overcoming difficulties and promoting friendly people-to-people exchanges between the two sides. We reached broad consensus and issued a joint declaration as follows：

We agree that the 21st century is the century of Asia. China and Japan are important neighbors and cooperative partners. Both are important countries in Asia. The two peoples should join hands to propel the longterm， sound and stable development of China-Japan relations and promote the friendship between the two peoples from generation to generation. The two sides should jointly safeguard and develop the “century of Asia” and the home of Asia.

We agree that the novel coronavirus knows no borders， irrespective of race. It is a serious challenge facing all mankind in the 21st century. Mankind lives in a community with a shared future. Only with solidarity and by cooperation can we conquer the pandemic at an early date and restore order of life and work of people around the world.

We resolutely oppose the attempt to politicize the pandemic and the search for the origins of novel coronavirus. We call on the international community to respect life and science， work together and respond in a scientific way. We firmly safeguard the common home of mankind and peoples lives， health and safety.

We support Japan in hosting the Tokyo Olympic Games and China in hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics. Wed like to take the opportunity in this “Year for promoting cultural and sports exchanges between China and Japan” to carry out exchanges and promote friendship and cooperation. With the Olympic spirit of mutual understanding， friendship， solidarity and fair competition， we can help people around the world come out of the haze of COVID-19 together.

We unanimously agree to actively promote friendly exchanges and cooperation between the youths， culture， sports， subnational governments， media and think tanks. We will promote mutual understanding and affinity between the two peoples and work together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the normalization of ChinaJapan diplomatic relations next year， so as to make new and greater contributions to the development of ChinaJapan relations in the new era.