State Councilor Yang Jiechi elaborated China's principled stance on issues concerning UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, military security and the East and South China Sea at a China-Japan high-level political dialogue, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday.
At talks on Tuesday with Shotaro Yachi, head of Japan's National Security Council, Yang pointed out that historical issues matter a lot to the political foundations of China-Japan relations, according to Kong Xuanyou, director-general of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
He expressed strong dissatisfaction over Japan's attempt to block the inclusion of Nanjing Massacre documents in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's ( UNESCO) Memory of the World Register.
Yang said China hopes Japan could properly handle the historical issues in a spirit of "learning from past and looking forward to the future."
According to Kong, Yang exchanged in-depth views with Yachi on bilateral ties and issues of common concern from a strategic and overall perspective.
The senior Chinese official comprehensively expounded China's positions on bilateral relations, pointing out that China-Japan relations have shown a momentum of improvement but still with some sensitive and complicated issues, Kong said.
"We hope Japan can pursue a positive policy toward China and earnestly implement the four-point agreement reached last year on the basis of four political documents between the two countries so as to properly handle major and sensitive issues," Yang was quoted by Kong as saying.
Talking about Japan's passage of new security legislations last month which will allow Japan's Self Defense Forces to fight abroad, Yang said Japan should learn lessons from history, stick to the path of peaceful development and refrain from doing things detrimental to regional peace and stability.
Regarding the East China Sea issue, Yang reiterated China's positions on the Diaoyu Islands. "China will resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and maritime interests. However, we are also willing to manage and solve issues through dialogue."
Speaking of the South China Sea issue, Yang said the overall situation in the sea is stable and China maintains that the freedom of navigation and overflight that countries enjoy according to international law should be guaranteed.
The Japanese side should speak and act cautiously on the issue for regional peace and stability, Yang said.
