(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-28 19:31

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on Friday said Japan would "very earnestly" reflect on the "agonizing part of history" and continue to follow the path of peaceful development so as to establish "forward-looking China-Japan relations".

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda makes a speech at Peking University in Beijing December 28, 2007. [Agencies]

Fukuda made the statement when meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. China and Japan have a long-standing disagreement over wartime history.

While speaking at the Peking University in the afternoon, Fukuda said Wen Jiabao stressed during his trip to Japan in April that the principle of "taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future" was not meant to prolong hatred but to make a better future.

"I took the words of Premier Wen seriously," Fukuda told students.

He said in the long river of history, the two nations, though they had "experienced this or that misfortunes", had an obligation and responsibility to treat history properly and pass it to future generations.

Fukuda stressed that Japan would adhere to peaceful development and devote itself to cooperation with the international community. "But Japan must ponder upon the past and reflect on its errors, and earnestly treat the past with an attitude to show consideration to victims," Fukuda said.

Japan should "bravely and wisely reflect on that which should be reflected" so as to avoid similar mistakes in the future, he added, to unanimous applause.

Fukuda arrived in Beijing on Thursday afternoon for an official visit that runs until December 30.