China urges Japan not to misread situation

BEIJING - China has asked Japan to have a clear picture of the situation, correct its mistake and handle the problem between the two countries properly, Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun said Friday.

China and Japan have maintained contact and consultations on the issue of Diaoyu Islands through various channels and in different forms, Zhang told reporters at a press briefing.

The two sides started vice-foreign ministerial-level consultations on Diaoyu Islands in Beijing on Sept 25, Zhang said.

In the contact and consultations at all levels, China has stated its government's solemn position on the issue and strong determination to safeguard territorial integrity, Zhang said.

"China has urged Japan to have a correct reading of the situation, abandon any illusion and face up to reality," Zhang said.

"Japan should correct its mistake with credible steps and make real efforts so that the current problem will be handled properly, " he said.

Japan urged to face up to history

Zhang also urged Japan to face up to its history and sincerely correct its mistakes.

"If Japan cannot face up to history, cannot examine its conscience and sincerely correct its mistakes, no matter how developed its economy is, it will never stand up morally or psychologically," he said.

Zhang told reporters at a news briefing that the dangerous political tendency of the Japanese right-wing forces had once plunged Asia into a major disaster.

"Such forces, if not stopped but used, if encouraged and indulged out of domestic political needs, will become further emboldened and lead Japan further down a dangerous path," Zhang said.

"If this tendency should continue, it is not impossible that the historical tragedy will be repeated, and that will throw Asia and the entire world into disaster and will cause eventual trouble to Japan," he said.

Japan has, until this day, remained reluctant to explicitly recognize the nature of that war of aggression, Zhang said.

Some Japanese political figures have swaggered into the Yasukuni Shrine and paid tribute there without feeling guilty or ashamed, dismissing the feelings of the people in other Asian countries, which were victims of its past aggression.

"Should Japan continue to act like that, how could it be forgiven by the Asian people and how could its neighboring countries rest assured of it?" Zhang said.