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On September 20, DPJ Secretary General Azuma Koshiishi received a courtesy call from Chinese Ambassador Cheng Yonghua inside the Diet building. The meeting was also attended by Acting Secretary General Shinji Tarutoko, Administration Committee Chair Naoki Tanaka, International Department Director-General Koichiro Watanabe and Vice Director-General Shino Aihara for the DPJ.
At the start of the meeting, Koshiishi expressed his appreciation for the condolences and warm-hearted support that had been received from China following the Great East Japan Earthquake. He also stated that visits to the affected areas by both Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Ambassador Cheng had provided a great deal of encouragement to the Japanese people. Koshiishi went on to say that Japan and China had maintained friendly relations over their long history, and said he would like to revitalize party-to-party exchanges and develop a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship.
Cheng commented, “We would like to continue to provide as much support as we can to aid with disaster recovery…Next year is the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, so I would like to ask for your continued cooperation in further strengthening the relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and the DPJ.”
Koshiishi pointed out that the developments in today’s relationship between Japan and China were thanks to the efforts of predecessors such as Administration Chair Tanaka’s father-in-law Kakuei Tanaka. He emphasized the importance of political dialogues, stressing that “it is important to create a relationship of mutual trust” in order to deepen the friendly relations between the two nations.
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