China, Japan vow to further party-to-party exchange

BEIJING—The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) held the second meeting of the regular exchange mechanism on Friday, pledging to further exchange and push forward the healthy and stable relations between the two countries.
Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), headed the Japanese delegation to join the meeting. He was also head of the delegation of the “Great Wall” program, a people-to-people exchange scheme between China and Japan. Li Yuanchao, head of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, addressed the meeting.
Li, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, said China and Japan should promote political trust, high-level contact, and reciprocal cooperation, and expand the personnel exchange to cement the foundation for Sino-Japanese good-neighborly relations. He expressed appreciation for Japan to implement the “Great Wall” Program, noting that China would like to work with Japan to enhance mutual understanding and trust to improve the relations.
Wang Jiarui, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said during a keynote speech that the party-to-party exchange had played a particularly important role in the normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic ties and the cooperation in the all areas.
He said the CPC valued relations with all parties in Japan, and the party exchange mechanism reflected the requirement of the development of Sino-Japanese relations in the new stage, and the political decision of the leaders of the two parties. He hoped the politicians of the two countries would work together to contribute to Sino-Japanese good-neighborliness and cooperation.
Ichiro Ozawa said under the current international situation, a Sino-Japanese relation was important for both, Asia and the world as whole. He hoped the DPJ and CPC would enhance mutual trust and reciprocal cooperation to promote friendship of the two peoples. The regular exchange mechanism between the CPC and the DPJ was established in July 2006, aiming at furthering parties and states relations.
Before the parties exchanges, Li Yuanchao meet with the Japanese delegation. The two parties also signed two documents respectively on friendly exchanges and on poverty eradication program to Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s missile destroyer “Shenzhen” arrived at Zhanjiang military port on Friday, after the first visit to Japan by a Chinese warship since 1930s.
A welcoming ceremony was held at the port by the South China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy at 10 a.m.. During the four-day visit starting on Nov. 28, the Chinese naval officials met with Japanese officials from the defense ministry and the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF), and the Chinese crew members toured Tokyo and held a variety of exchanges activities, including a soccer match, with their Japanese counterparts.
The warship visit is a significant and memorable event, which opened a new page in the history of Japan-China defense exchange and military communications, said Eiji Yoshikawa, chief of staff of the Japanese MSDF, at the welcoming ceremony held in Japan.
“Shenzhen”, with 345 officials and soldiers onboard and led by Rear Admiral Xiao Xinnian, left the Zhanjiang port of Southern China’s Guangdong Province on Nov. 21. The visit was at the invitation of the MSDF.—Xinhua