China urges Japan to honor joint political commitment

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun reaffirmed on Tuesday that the China-Japan Joint Communique in 1972, along with three other Sino-Japanese political documents, laid the political and legal foundation for bilateral ties, rejecting attempts to distort, roll back, and undermine them.

China-Japan relations now face a grave situation because their political foundation has been seriously damaged, Guo said at a daily news conference.

As Tuesday marks the 54th anniversary of the issuance of the China-Japan Joint Communique, Guo urged the Japanese authorities to earnestly reflect, correct their mistakes and return, through concrete actions, to the original aspiration and commitment of the four political documents.

He cited Foreign Minister Wang Yi's meeting on Monday with Takeshi Iwaya, president of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade, noting that for Japan, the pressing task is to correct the erroneous words and deeds of its leaders on the Taiwan question as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Guo said that the key lies in adopting the right attitude toward historical issues. Fundamentally, Japan needs to develop an objective and rational perception of China, he added.