China urges Japan to respect core interests

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that Japan bears full responsibility for the current serious difficulties in China-Japan relations, urging Tokyo to respect China's core interests.

He was responding to a question about whether Beijing is willing to further promote China-Japan economic and trade ties under the current circumstances.

China has reiterated that the root cause of the current serious difficulties in China-Japan relations lies in Japanese authorities' series of erroneous words and actions regarding China's Taiwan and military security, Guo said.

He suggested that the reporter ask Japanese policymakers, "Can they respect China's core interests and stop interfering in China's internal affairs?"

"Can they faithfully uphold the spirit of the four China-Japan political documents and secure the political foundation of China-Japan relations and the necessary environment for economic and trade cooperation? Can they reflect on and correct their mistakes, and demonstrate through concrete actions their sincerity in bringing China-Japan relations back on track?" Guo added.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn