Beijing-Sana
China called on Japan to cooperate with it to strengthen and develop relations between the two countries, and to avoid interfering in Chinese internal affairs or being drawn behind those that adopt hostile and biased stances against Beijing.
"In the face of the complex international situation, the two countries that have always been close neighbors and enjoy the second and third largest economies in the world should come together and build their relations on the basis of mutual respect and trust," Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as saying in a phone call yesterday with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Mutegi. And we shall cooperate together to achieve mutual benefit and play a joint positive role in the cause of peace and development in the region and the world at large.
Wang urged adherence to what had been hardly achieved in terms of improving and developing relations between the two countries and protecting it, implementing the important consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga last year, adhering to the principles and spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, and ensuring that Tokyo was not involved in the matter. It is called confrontation between the major powers.
He indicated Beijing's readiness to continue to strengthen practical cooperation with Japan and support each other in hosting the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Beijing Winter Olympics, and to seize the opportunity of the year of promoting cultural and sports exchanges between the two countries in 2021 and 2022 and the fiftieth anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between them next year to improve national sentiments. And to establish stable and healthy Sino-Japanese relations during the next 50 years.
Wang expressed his country's opposition to Japan's interference in China's internal affairs, including Xinjiang and Hong Kong affairs, and called for it to abide by the basic norms governing international relations and actively respect China's internal affairs as a close neighbor.
For his part, Toshimitsu said that Japan attaches great importance to its relations with China and continues its commitment to ensuring the steady development of Japan-China relations, and is willing to maintain communication, enhance dialogue and mutual trust between the two countries, and properly manage their differences.