Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan said in Beijing Tuesday that China and Japan, two important countries in the East Asian region, should grasp bilateral ties from a long-term and strategic perspective.

"The importance of Sino-Japanese ties overweighs the relationship itself, and it will have an impact on peace and stability in Asia and the world at large," he said.

Tang, a Japan expert, has long been in charge of China's foreign affairs. He told Hata Tsutomu, a former Japanese prime minister who is here on a visit, that the mainstream of the current Sino-Japanese ties is good, and the cooperation is maintaining a sound momentum.

However, Tang pointed out that problems, including some left over from history and the Taiwan issue, also exist in bilateral ties. He said that the proper settlement of these issues constitutes the political foundation of Sino-Japanese relations.

Tang noted that Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro has paid several visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where class-A war criminals of World War II are commemorated. Such moves hurts the feeling of Chinese and other Asian peoples and has had a bad impact on Japan's relations with its neighboring Asian countries, he said.

"This act also sabotages Japan's own interest," Tang added.

He voiced the hope that the Japanese government leaders would honor their commitment with concrete actions, draw lesions from history and face the future, so as to push forward Sino-Japanese relations.

On the Taiwan issue, Tang said that he hoped that Japan would "act cautiously" and "not send the wrong signals to the Taiwan authorities."

Hata Tsutomu, who is also president of the Japan-Chinese Junior Training Association, said that China is one of the most important countries in the world for Japan. So long as the two countries treat bilateral ties from the viewpoint of the common interest and with a far-sighted approach, the bilateral relationship will maintain its stable and healthy development, he said.

He added that the Taiwan issue is an internal affair of China. The Japanese government's stance on Taiwan remains unchanged, he said, and Japan will send no wrong signals to the Taiwan authorities.

(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2004)