The Japanese people are ready to receive Premier Wen Jiabao in April, Japanese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Noriyuki Shikata said on Friday.
"The visit will provide an important opportunity for the
Japanese public to get to know the Chinese premier, and they are
very interested in that," said Shikata, who is in Beijing to serve
as the spokesman for the Japanese delegation to the ongoing
six-party talks.
Wen and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met at a regional
summit in the central Philippines last month to firm up a timeframe
for the first State-level trip by a Chinese leader to Japan in over
six years.
Former Premier Zhu Rongji visited Japan in October 2000.
Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing will travel to Japan next Thursday.
It is widely believed that his three-day trip will pave the way for
Wen's visit.
Shikata said Li would meet with his Japanese counterpart, Taro
Aso, and could possibly call on Prime Minister Abe, though the two
governments were still discussing the final schedule.
Shikata said the fact that Li's visit was scheduled to end on
the eve of Spring Festival, China's most important traditional
holiday, demonstrated Beijing's determination to make Wen's visit a
complete success for both sides.
He added that Japan was planning to strengthen its ties with
China this year by stepping up co-operation on culture and
sports.
"A series of activities under this theme will take place in
Japan this spring, allowing more Japanese people to get to know
more about China," he said, noting that similar activities would be
held in China next year to promote Japanese culture and sports.
He said this year was not only the 35th anniversary of the
normalization of ties between the two countries, but also the year
of Chinese culture and sports in Japan.
Shikata said these two fields were priorities for Japan this
year and that Japan was eager to advance bilateral ties on a wide
range of issues, such as environmental protection, energy and
trade.
The spokesman also said he was optimistic about Sino-Japanese
relations despite the challenges.
"Both China and Japan have agreed to solve their disputes and
problems through negotiation and dialogue and believe it could work
out quite well," he said.
In an effort to speed up the tightening of bilateral ties, the
two countries have set up numerous mechanisms for negotiating on a
wide range of issues in recent years, including diplomatic
strategic talks, talks on the East China Sea and a joint study of
the region's history.
(China Daily February 12, 2007)
