On Monday, former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui arrived in Japan with a sightseeing visa granted by the Japanese government. 

The Chinese government has made strong protests against any such visit, which is simply another separatist activity by Lee. It is yet another example of Japan's antagonism towards China. Lee is the chief representative of the radical supporters for "Taiwan independence" on the island, and nothing but a "troublemaker" in the international arena. The Japanese government's permission for Lee's visit will easily be misread as a signal that Tokyo pampers and supports the "Taiwan independence" forces. The act will severely impair the Sino-Japanese relationship, and the Chinese government will not soften its tone in making a strong protest.

Japan is a close neighbor of China, geographically. Since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations in 1972, the Chinese government has always attached importance to its relations with Japan, and generations of Chinese leaders have made unremitting efforts to improve bilateral ties.

The year 1972 marked an epoch-making shift in the Sino-Japanese relationship, as then Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai warmly received former Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and former Foreign Minister Ohira Masayoshi, who came to China to sign the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement.

The late leader Deng Xiaoping and former President Jiang Zemin paid successive visits to Japan, pledging friendship with Japanese Mikado and the head of government.

Not long ago, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao met Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on the sidelines of the APEC Summit Meeting and the summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK), namely, the 10+3 meeting. The leaders of the two countries vowed to cherish and maintain the achievements made in cooperation in various realms.

On economic and trade ties, the economies of the two neighbors are strongly complementary and will see great potential for further progress. A sustained development will bring about a promising "win-win" prospect for the two neighbors.

In 2003, trade volume between the two sides amounted to US$133.4 billion, the highest level in history, nearly 15 times as much as the meager volume of that in the early 1980s. In the first half of this year, trade volume increased by 28.6 percent to US$78.2 billion.

The Japanese economy has recently regained a strong growth momentum after many years' dull performance, maintaining a 4 percent economic growth for eight consecutive quarters. This economic growth is attributed partly to a sharp increase in its exports to China. It has become a common consensus among some Japanese scholars that the country owes its economic resurrection largely to its trade with China.

Accordingly, it is obvious that Japan has also supported China's economic construction.

China and Japan, the two big-shot countries in Asia, are not like "two rival tigers on the same mountain," as described by people who still have a cold war mentality; they are more like two horses running neck-and-neck. The Chinese government is willing to develop sincere good-neighborliness and friendship with Japan.

But the amelioration of Sino-Japanese relations needs joint efforts. These years, Japanese political circles have seen a surge in right-wing tendencies. Japanese political leaders have again and again reiterated that they place great stress on Sino-Japan relations, yet their actions contradict their pledges. They continuously make moves that cause China problems. Some of these can be seen with Japan's recent foreign policies to China.

At the end of November, Japan claimed it would cut official development assistance (ODA) to China in the near future. The ODA program was originally designed against a special historical background, but now, Japan wants to make it a trump card in its foreign policy to China.

On December 7, at the conference of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Yoriko Kawaguchi, assistant to the Japanese prime minister, said Japan was not in favor of the European Union's move to lift its weapons embargo on China. On December 10, Japan passed its New Outline for National Defense and a medium-term defense force development plan (2005-09), in which China was singled out as a major threat. Some Japanese government officials have taken China's opposition to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine as interference in Japan's internal affairs. Japan has also tried several times to bar China's oil and gas exploitation in the East China Sea.

And just a few days ago, the Japanese government granted Lee Teng-hui visa despite China's protests. This is another harassment that impairs any development of ties.

Which direction are Sino-Japanese relations heading? More than two months ago, China's new ambassador to Japan, Wang Yi, said at his first press conference in Tokyo that for better ties, both sides should endeavor to "maintain one basis and promote three goals."

One basis stands for the political foundation laid by three landmark documents, the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship, and Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration. The mutual understanding is founded on Japan's self-examination on the aggressive war and its commitment to the one-China principle. China and Japan should draw lessons from history and make plans to promote and advance relations. Mutually beneficial cooperation should be carefully observed to help the two countries' relations flourish. China and Japan should join hands to help with Asia's rejuvenation, with peace preserved and common interests explicitly defined and enlarged in a broader concept. This is what China would like to see in future.

Will the Japanese government join China in the same direction, or embark on a different course? We will have to wait and see.

(China Daily December 29, 2004)