JCP leaders hold talks with China's vice foreign minister

Japanese Communist Party Central Committee Chair Fuwa Tetsuzo and Executive Committee Chair Shii Kazuo on November 14 held talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo for about an hour at the party head office in Tokyo.

Fuwa said he has been paying attention to Chinese President Hu Jingtao's activities since his election to this post and that public opinion in Japan appears to be welcoming changes taking place in China.

Responding to Dai's questions, Fuwa explained recent political changes in Japan that took place recently as a result of the general election in which business circles took the initiative in policy debates. He pointed out that Japan's politics will evolve as a struggle between "two major conservative parties", the Liberal Democratic and Democratic Social parties on one side, and the progressive camp opposing them on the other.

Dai explained that China at the six-party talks on North Korea will concentrate on efforts to get the nuclear weapons issue resolved through discussions.

Commending China's diplomatic efforts concerning the North Korea issue, Fuwa stressed that the JCP and the CPC are in full agreement on the need for North Korea's nuclear weapons issue to be settled peacefully through diplomatic efforts.

Fuwa also emphasized that "individuals issues" pending between North Korea and other countries, including North Korea's abduction of Japanese nationals, need to be settled as an indispensable step toward securing peace and stability in Northeast Asia, and as an essential process for North Korea to rejoin the international community.

Reminding the Chinese vice foreign minister that he had raised this issue in the August 2002 JCP-CPC summit talks, Fuwa emphasized that the September 2002 Japan-DPRK summit talks and the Pyongyang Declaration are very significant as a first step towards settling the matter. In the declaration, Kim Jong Il officially admitted North Korea's responsibility for the abduction and stated that North Korea was willing to settle accounts regarding this lawless act, which is an international issue.

In this sense, this initial step needs to be developed as part of an overall settlement of the abduction issue, Fuwa stressed. He expressed hope that China, in view of the problem's international implications, will understand this point and take cooperative steps in appropriate ways.

Expressing thanks to the points Fuwa raised, the Chinese vice foreign minister referred to the issues concerning China-Japan relations. He said that in his talks with Japanese government officials he pointed out that historical issues, in particular the Yasukuni Shrine visit by Japan's prime minister, are insulting the Chinese people's sentiments.

Talks ranged over other bilateral issues in a frank atmosphere.

Dai was the head of the CPC International Liaison Department when he took part in the talks between the JCP led by Fuwa and the CPC in 1998 in Tokyo, and in 1998 and 2002 in Beijing. He conveyed greetings to the JCP from China's leadership, including CPC General Secretary and State President Hu Jingtao. (end)