ニュース 2009/12/14 Hatoyama meets with Chinese Vice President On December 14, Prime Minister and DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama met with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping. The meeting was also attended by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsuya Okada and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yorihisa Matsuno from the Japanese side. At the start of the meeting, Hatoyama extended a warm welcome to Vice President Xi and expressed his appreciation for the fact that in the three months since his inauguration as Prime Minister, “I have had the opportunity to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao on a number of occasions, but your excellency’s visit on this occasion as one of the next generation of Chinese leaders, is in particular a great opportunity for the future of Japan-China relations.” Hatoyama went on to say, “Japan and China have agreed to engage in a mutual strategic relationship, but in order to realize this in a more concrete form, the invaluable assistance you can provide is both necessary and desirable, Mr Vice President.” He explained that many people who had contributed to the development of Japan-China relations had been invited to the welcome reception that would be held following the meeting, and said, “I hope that you will have the opportunity to meet with many Japanese, and that this will provide an opportunity for the Japan-China relationship to be developed by the next generation of young leaders.” Vice President Xi said, “I would like to express my warm appreciation for the careful preparations and thorough arrangements that have been made by Prime Minister Hatoyama and the rest of the Japanese government for my visit.” He went on to state that Hatoyama’s “long-term emphasis on the Japan-China relationship, and significant efforts following [his] inauguration as Prime Minister to pursue the development of the bilateral relationship are welcomed by the governments and people of both nations.”