Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Statement by the Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China concerning the Anti-Japan Demonstrations in China

April 13, 2005

The Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China twice made statements, on April 10 and 12, on the current aspect of relations between Japan and China, implying that the responsibility lies with the Japanese side and not with the Chinese side. Such violent acts, however, cannot be justified for any reason whatsoever in the international community today. The Chinese government is obliged under international law to take responsibility to ensure the life and safety of foreigners, guarantee the legal activities of foreign enterprises and protect diplomatic missions. Expressing such statements, which seem to allow such violence, are to ignore the rule and order of the international community and cannot be said to be the behavior of a responsible government. The Government of Japan claims an apology and compensation for damages and so on from the Chinese side concerning these present incidents, and calls for its faithful responses.
The stance of the Government of Japan with regard to the war remains exactly the same as has been announced clearly on a number of occasions. The Government of Japan settled the post-war issues legally and properly by the San Francisco Peace Treaty, other bilateral peace treaties, and other international instruments. Furthermore in 1995 the Government of Japan issued a Statement by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, clearly expressing Japan's perceptions of history from the moral standpoint. With China, through the Japan-China Joint Communiqué of 1972, the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1978, and the Japan-China Joint Declaration of 1998, the Government of Japan has expressed its profound remorse for the past history concerning the war, which China accepted, leading to the building up of a 30-year friendly relationship between Japan and China. This Japan's stance remains the same, and the Government of Japan intends to continue maintaining and acting upon this stance in a sincere manner.
From deep remorse for its past history concerning the war, Japan has, during the 60 years of the post-war era, chosen the path of developing as a democratic and peaceful nation in accordance with the basic principle that it would maintain an exclusively defense-oriented policy and would not become a military power threatening other countries, thereby Japan has not once exercised force. In the meantime, Japan achieved economic development amidst peaceful environment, based on which it has made efforts for international contributions. Such post-war steps taken by Japan have come to be highly valued by the international community at large, including many Asian countries.
On the issue of the perceptions of history concerning the war, promoting mutual understanding through dialogue, instead of extreme actions, will be to the advantage of both countries. The Government of Japan strongly expects the Chinese side to take a proper view of these present incidents and provide thorough and effective measures to prevent any recurrence.
At the same time, it is extremely important for both the Governments and the peoples of Japan and China to understand and respect each other's situation from the broader perspective of Japan-China friendship, and cooperate with humility and self restraint. The Government of Japan believes that it will be able to gain the understanding of the peoples of both Japan and China on this point.

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