Chinese Premier Zhu takes diplomatic tone on Japan's wartime past

October 13, 2000
Web posted at: 2:15 PM HKT (0615 GMT)

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, treading a fine line on the sensitive topic of Tokyo's wartime history, on Friday recalled China's pain caused by Japanese militarism, but said its people were not to blame.

"In modern history, we suffered a great misfortune caused by Japan's militarism," Zhu told Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in talks at the start of a six-day visit.

"But the people of Japan were also the victims and therefore the people of Japan should not be held responsible. Using history as a mirror, we must move forward. We hope that history will not repeat itself," he said.

The remarks, quoted by a Japanese foreign ministry official who attended the meeting, were a marked contrast to abrasive lectures on Japan's wartime past by Chinese President Jiang Zemin two years ago.

Jiang's words managed to sour two-way relations between the Asian powers.

But improved ties are more vital than ever now that the region's diplomatic map is changing with Stalinist North Korea emerging from its Cold War cocoon.

Zhu also conveyed what many Japanese consider long overdue thanks for two decades of hefty Japanese economic aid.

"The Chinese side expressed gratitude for the role Japan's economic assistance has played to develop China in the past 20 years," said a statement issued by Japan's Foreign Ministry.

According to the statement, Zhu and Mori agreed that the rapid warming of Pyongyang's ties with the West and with South Korea was welcome.

"The easing of tension on the Korean peninsula after the North-South summit in June is a positive development for stability in the region and we view it enthusiastically," the leaders said.

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said on Thursday she planned to visit North Korea this month to pave the way for a possible trip to the secretive Stalinist state by President Bill Clinton.

Zhu and Mori also agreed to speed up efforts to work out a promised mutual notification system for maritime activities in waters between Japan and China, the statement said.

Ire over Chinese naval incursions into waters Tokyo considers its own prompted Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party to delay approval of 17.2 billion yen ($160 million) in special yen loans to Beijing.

The party finally gave the nod last week after China agreed to work out a mutual notification system for its maritime research activities in Japan's 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

But details of the system have yet to be agreed due to differences over where to draw the boundary line for the waters to be covered in the notification scheme, Japanese media said.

Mori, for his part, turned up the pressure on China over failed yen debt repayments by one of its trust firms, urging Zhu to resolve quickly "various issues," including debt repayment by Chinese International Trust & Investment Corporations, Japan's foreign ministry said in a statement.

That was a thinly veiled reference to Hainan International Trust & Investment Corp (HITIC), which this week became the first Chinese firm to default in the Samurai bond market. Most of the purchasers of the bonds are believed to be Japanese institutions.

China in reply expressed its willingness to deal "actively" with the issue, Japan's foreign ministry said.

The Japan Credit Rating Agency said on Wednesday that HITIC's 14 billion yen ($130 million) seven-year bonds due September 24, 2004 were in default, raising worries about the credit worthiness of other Chinese firms trying to tap international markets.

Japanese creditors have expressed worries that HITIC may be preparing to liquidate assets to pay Chinese creditors before legal proceedings establish creditors' right to repayment.

Zhu faces a delicate task in Japan.

He must sound grateful for Japanese aid without playing the supplicant, a role that could land him in trouble back home, where anti-Japanese sentiment dating from World War II still bubbles just below the surface.

In Japan, deep suspicions persist towards China.

Some Japanese ruling politicians worry that China uses aid to boost its military. They also expect Beijing to cling to its option of blasting Japan for failing to address its wartime past.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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