Secret envoy recalls birth of peace treaty

"I was the secret envoy for negotiations of the Japan-China Peace and Friendship Treaty," said Hiroaki Kitamura, managing director of the Japan-Asia Exchange Association, with pride while recalling the signing of the pact.

Kitamura, then resident liaison of the Association for the Promotion of International Trade, Japan (JAPIT) in Beijing, worked as a secret envoy for the contacts and communication between leaders of the two countries and witnessed the whole process of the negotiations and signing of the treaty.

"Shortly after the normalization of bilateral diplomatic relations in 1972, China began to consider a peace and friendship treaty with Japan," said Kitamura, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.