Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said in the Japanese Diet that whether or not Japan had carried out an invasion should be judged by people in the process of history when he touched upon the essence of Japan's invasion of China.


In response to Mori's remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sun Yuxi at a regular press conference on April 25 said that China is surprised at and regrets the Prime Minister's wrongful remarks which blurred the essence of Japan's invasion of China and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. Sun urged Japan to strictly abide by principles set forth in the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement and the Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration, as well as a series of remarks and pledges it has solemnly made to China on the issue of history, and sincerely reflect on its invasion history, draw profound lessons from it, and earnestly safeguard relations between China and Japan.


On April 26, the Director-General of Asian Affairs Division of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, at the direction of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, met with Chinese diplomats stationed in Japan and made clarification on Mori's remarks. He said that former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama made clear in a formal speech in 1995 the basic stand of the Japanese government toward the issue of history, in that Japan admits its record of invasion and shows deep introspection over it. In the Joint Declaration issued by both sides during Chinese President Jiang Zemin's visit to Japan in 1998, the Japanese government confessed clearly its invasion of China. Mori's cabinet will not change the official stand held by the Japanese government.


Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono on April 26 also reiterated such a stand by the Japanese government, in reply to a written inquiry by Chinese journalists in Tokyo. Japan will, on the basis of continuing introspection of that unfortunate history, devotes itself to the development of good Japan-China relations.