Chinese PM calls for close ties with Japan

Source: CNN.

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao urged Japan's parliament on Thursday not to forget Tokyo's wartime aggression, even as the two Asian powers mend their strained ties and bolster thriving business relations.

Wen -- the first Chinese leader to address the parliament in 22 years -- was on a three-day "ice-melting" trip to Japan as the two countries worked to reverse a deterioration in ties caused in part by disagreements about the past.

The Chinese premier, who spent part of Thursday urging Japanese business leaders to invest in China, also struck a conciliatory note, acknowledging Japanese apologies and blaming a clique of militarists for Tokyo's invasions of China. (Watch why Wen's visit marks a thaw in China-Japan relations.)

"To reflect on history is not to dwell on hard feelings but to remember and learn from the past in order to open a better future," he said, adding, however, that he hoped Japan's apologies would be "turned into actions."

The two countries have been at odds in recent years over Japan's invasions and occupation of China in the 1930s and '40s. China has accused Japan of not fully atoning for its aggression, while some Japanese feel accounts of their wrongdoings have been exaggerated. (Watch how World War II continues to cast a shadow on the two countries' ties.)

The Wen trip was aimed at building on an improvement in ties begun when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe traveled to China in October. Ties had plunged to postwar lows during the 2001-2006 term of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi.

Japanese officials said they were satisfied so far with the visit, which was to end Friday.

"Premier Wen Jiabao's speech was very positive, and I thought it was very good that forward-looking remarks were made on broad-ranging issues," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said.

On Wednesday, Wen and Abe declared their firm intentions to move forward on rebuilding relations, signed agreements on energy and the environment, and issued a joint statement that laid out a series of issues for the countries to cooperate on. (Full story)

Wen also strove to put a human face on the Chinese government, coming out early Thursday for a jog at a Tokyo park -- wearing sportswear with a Beijing 2008 Olympics logo -- and even joining a group doing tai chi. On Friday, he was to play baseball with college students in western Japan.

Much of Wen's activities on Thursday and Friday were aimed at business relations. China, including Hong Kong, is Japan's No. 1 trading partner, and Beijing is eager to increase Japanese technology transfers and investment in its booming economy.

After the parliament speech, Wen lunched with members of Japan's leading business federation, declaring that "winter has past, and spring has come in China-Japan relations."

He urged Japanese companies to invest in China, vowing to address vast imbalances in the Chinese economy, improve the natural environment, protect intellectual property rights, continue tax breaks for high-tech companies and proceed with currency reform.

"China must build a society that conserves its resources and protects its environment," Wen said.

Wen and Abe also launched a series of high-level economic dialogues aimed at boosting ties between Asia's two biggest economies.

"Our economies have become indispensable to each other ... and our relationship is also crucial to the world economy," Abe said.

Oil dispute

But a statement in an annual report by China's No. 1 oil producer that it is producing oil and gas from a disputed area in the East China Sea threatened to disturb the cordial mood of Wen's visit.

Japan has asked Chinese officials to confirm the report by CNOOC Ltd., which said the company was producing 42 barrels of oil and 4 million cubic feet of gas per day from the disputed Tianwaitian oil field, according to a Foreign Ministry official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

The two countries have not demarcated their exclusive economic zones in the area, and Japan has objected to Chinese exploitation of the deposits, saying some of the gas belongs to Japan. Joint talks so far have achieved little.

Still, Wen made a number of statements on issues close to Japanese hearts.

On Wednesday, he expressed understanding for Japan's drive to win a resolution of North Korea's past kidnappings of Japanese citizens. On Thursday, he alluded to Tokyo's long-standing campaign to win a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council -- a campaign China has blocked in the past.

"China understands Japan's hope to play a bigger role in international society, and we are ready to strengthen our mutual understanding over the United Nations' reforms," he said.

Wen, however, also warned the Japanese not to meddle in Beijing's relations with Taiwan, which it considers part of China. The premier said China hoped for peaceful reunification, but that it could not tolerate Taiwanese independence.

Reporter's Notebook: Afghanistan's House of History Restored

By David Piper

It's just one of many bomb-damaged villas on the outskirts of Kabul. But it is, perhaps, the most important building in Afghanistan, as it houses the rich history of this war-torn country. The museum in Kabul houses what’s left of the artifacts that have survived the fighting.

I was on assignment with FOX News in Kabul in 2005 and the one place I wanted to visit was its museum.

I wasn’t really sure if there was going to be anything left as I’d seen a documentary a couple of years before that showed that the museum had been pillaged by looters over several years and had been heavily bombed.

It once held an amazing collection of artifacts as befits a country that often has been a crossroads for cultures including from Egypt, Greece, Rome and India.

Many of the priceless items that once were on display at the museum have been sent around the world by smugglers and are more likely to be found in private collections in London, New York or Tokyo.

But worse was yet to come for the museum.

The Taliban announced an edict in 2001 to destroy all pre-Islamic statues and objects in Afghanistan.

The video that was seen around the world of the Taliban blowing up the enormous Buddah statues of Bamiyan six years ago was etched in my memory as Akbar, the FOX News fixer in Afghanistan, drove me there.

He insisted, despite my concerns, that the museum was open again and, perhaps more importantly, there was something left to see inside it.

As we pulled up in the car, armed guards appeared from a roadblock outside the museum.

They checked our papers carefully before allowing us inside the building.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

Afghan and Italian experts have painstakingly put back together hundreds of priceless statues, carvings and other artifacts that had been damaged or even smashed to pieces by thieves and the Taliban.

Hardly anybody was in the museum and as a good journalist does, I looked around upstairs and opened a door or two.

In one room people were working hard to restore a number of stone statues.

It looked like the world’s most difficult jigsaw puzzles in that they didn’t know if all the pieces were there and if they all came from the same statue.

I learned later that many of the statues had been found in pieces in the storeroom of the museum, which had been ransacked many times but still gave up such priceless artifacts when the experts managed to work their way through the debris.

Others had been left in pieccs in the grounds of the museum.

When I walked outside I could see parts of what seemed to be Greek temples strewn around a lawn, some just protruding from the earth.

I met an Afghan woman who worked at the museum and insisted on showing me around, as is the culture of Afghanistan.

She showed me into a large room where the wooden animist sculptures from Nuristan now fill.

When the Taliban came here and smashed everything to bits, she said, the curator of the museum had refused to allow them to burn the remains of these wooden sculptures because he told them they had the power to break them but not the right to destroy forever the history of the Afghan people.

The Taliban decided to leave them in broken pieces and, thanks to the laborious work that has been done, these beautiful sculptures can be seen again.

This past weekend 1,400 artifacts protected from looters and the Taliban in far-off Switzerland have been returned to the Kabul museum.

News reports say one of the first items to be placed in the museum was a small Buddah statue from Bamiyan, where the Taliban had blown up the giant statues.

The Afghan authorities say the artifacts have been returned because they believe the country is now safe enough for them to be returned.

But with the ongoing fighting in Afghanistan I feel sure the well-armed guards at Kabul museum will have to remain there to protect the priceless artifacts for years to come.