Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang attends a press conference on China's foreign policy and foreign relations on the sidelines of the first session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 7, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

Forgetting history means betraying and denying previous crimes, which may lead to repeating the crimes of the past. If some people in Japan do not want to be partners with their neighbors but want to be engaged into new Cold War to contain China, there will be new wounds to China-Japan relations, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said at a press conference on Tuesday.

The press conference was held during the first session of the 14th National Press Conference and it is also Qin's first appearance at the two sessions since he took office three months ago.

In response to relations with Japan, Qin noted that 45 years ago, China and Japan made treaty of peace and friendship and set the principles and direction to bilateral relations in the form of laws. This treaty, together with four China-Japan political documents, forms the political base for China-Japan relations. The two countries promised that they are not threat but partners. 

Such important political consensus should be strictly abided by as an ironclad promise, said Qin. 

The Japanese militarism had brought severe harm to the Chinese people with the wounds still hurting. The Chinese people will never forget, so should the Japanese, said Qin.

The current international order is based on the anti-Fascism victory of the World War II and the lives and blood of 35 million Chinese soldiers and civilians. The Chinese people will not allow any challenge to the order and firmly oppose historical revisionism. The treaty of peace and friendship between China and Japan also signifies anti-hegemonism, Qin said.

Qin also urged Japan to take a responsible attitude in dealing with the contaminated nuclear wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant and said its plan to dump the wastewater into ocean is not only a matter for Japan but a key issue that closely related to the marine environment and public health. 

Global Times