TOKYO: Japan should seriously reflect on itself, correct its mistakes, and meet China halfway instead of playing the blame game, Mao Ning, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. Mao made the remarks at a regular press briefing in response to a query.
Noting that the Japanese side made a counterargument when Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong summoned Japanese Ambassador to China Hideo Tarumi on May 21 to lodge representations over G7 Hiroshima Summit hyping up China-related issues, and claimed China was hindering people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries, Mao said the Chinese side refuted the Japanese counterargument on the spot.
The U.S. and Japan have taken the lead to position China as the “greatest strategic challenge,” jab fingers at China and interfere in China’s internal affairs, she noted, adding that it is the U.S. and Japan who should mend their way. In terms of people-to-people and cultural exchanges, China supports the two countries to carry out friendly exchanges in various fields, which is China’s consistent position, she said.
The key is that both sides should treat each other with sincerity and engage each other with trust, so as to jointly create an atmosphere conducive to the improvement and development of bilateral ties, she said.
It has been reported that the G7 leaders’ communique and other documents adopted by the summit hosted by Japan contain comments designed to hype up China-related issues, including comments on the situation in the Taiwan Straits and accusations regarding the East China Sea, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Xizang and China’s nuclear power, and professed G7 opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo and claims about “economic coercion” that allude to China. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
