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Nanjing pays tribute to 'Conscience of Japan'
By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-06 06:01
Azuma hailed as model for countrymen
China yesterday expressed condolences over the death of Japanese war veteran
Shiro Azuma, hailing him as a role model for his countrymen.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press conference that
Azuma was one man who dared to acknowledge the truth of history and wanted to
improve relations between China and Japan.
He said Azuma's conscience, courage and righteousness had won the respect of
the Chinese people.
"I believe there are more people in Japan like Azuma, who are making
unremitting efforts to maintain the friendship between the two countries in line
with the spirit of 'taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the
future," Qin said.
He also made it clear that Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits
to the Yasukuni Shrine a symbol of Japanese militarism are totally unacceptable.
On Wednesday, Koizumi once again defended his repeated visits to the shrine
where Class-A war criminals of World War II are honoured but said he was
committed to developing friendly ties with China.
Qin reiterated that China is not responsible for the current stalemate and is
always in favour of dialogue. However, communication and co-operation between
the two countries require the proper political conditions and atmosphere.
The spokesman also refuted some Japanese reports that Japan is investing in
Chinese gas exploration projects in the East China Sea and that the two
countries agreed to share the interests according to a certain proportion.
Qin said the two countries agreed on joint exploration during the third round
of gas talks in Tokyo in October. "But details such as the capital and the
distribution of the interests haven't been touched upon yet," he said.
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