Li Zhaoxing, President of the China Public Diplomacy Association and former Chinese foreign minister, speaks at a forum commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Sun Yat-sen, in Tokyo, Japan, July 12, 2016. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)
A forum commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Sun Yat-sen, a great forerunner of China's democratic revolution, was held in Tokyo Tuesday, with a number of celebrated politicians and scholars from China and Japan attending.
The forum, with the theme "Sun Yat-sen and the future of the Asian Community of Common Destiny", was dedicated to reviewing and studying Sun's ideals and their connection and significance to the current world, and exploring ways to build the Asian Community of Common Destiny.
Li Zhaoxing, President of the China Public Diplomacy Association and former Chinese foreign minister, made a keynote speech at the forum, pointing out that Sun's ideal that Asian countries should cooperate together on equal footing to achieve regional prosperity, is still relevant today.
"Mr. Sun Yat-sen's Great Asianism aimed to change the unequal relationship between Asian countries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which is still of realistic value to promoting the cooperation between Asian countries today. China's current objective of building an Asian Community of Common Destiny was also a lifetime goal of Sun's," he said.
Liu Shaobin, temporary acting ambassador of China to Japan, pointed out that Sun had fought in his life for revitalizing China and achieving national unity. "Through reviewing his revolutionary ideals and practices, we could get a deeper understanding of the historical meaning and rich connotation of the Chinese Dream, and have more confidence for China's rejuvenation," he said.
Liu also referred to Sun's revolutionary years in Japan and the friends he made here. "Mr. Sun Yat-sen has spent a third of his revolutionary life in Japan. He set up the revolutionary organization Tongmenghui (Alliance for Democracy) in Tokyo. He has also made friends from all circles in Japan and received selfless support from them for China's revolutionary cause, which was an embodiment of the friendship between Chinese and Japanese people," he said.
Yasuo Fukuda, former Japanese Prime Minister, said that the relationship between China and Japan, as well as the status of world affairs nowadays, were different from Sun's days, but "Sun's ideals, including the one that Asian countries should cooperate together, are not outdated, and should become guidelines for Asian countries to deal with their relations."
Toshihiro Nikai, chairman of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's General Council, said that Sun was famous in Japan as a forerunner of China's revolution and when he made a speech on the Great Asianism in 1924, he attracted thousands of listeners. "Sun's ideals made us think about what we could do to help promote the peace and development of our countries as well as of Asia."
The forum was co-sponsored by China Public Diplomacy Association and Japan Sun Yat-sen Cultural Foundation.
