Cable No. 3008 from Ambassador Hashimoto Hiroshi (China) to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 'The Prime Minister’s Visit to China (Meeting With General Secretary Jiang Zemin) (2 of 2)'

Confidential

Telegraphic Copy                    [blacked out]               08-059

The Prime Minister’s Visit to China (Meeting with General Secretary Jiang Zemin) (2 of 2)

No. 3008                     Confidential     Top Urgent      [blacked out]

(Outgoing Telegram No. 3007 Divided Telegram)

3. In response to this, Prime Minister Kaifu said the following:

(1) Thank you for your detailed explanation and views. I would like to take this opportunity to state two or three points.

(2) Regarding the issue of past history, which Your Excellency mentioned, we will have our youth correctly comprehend the past history and inherit the ideal of a peaceful nation committed to peace.

(3) The world is changing from a bipolar one to a multipolar one. This is not an era in which one country can control everything. Under these circumstances, it is important to strengthen the role of the United Nations and in particular the role of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, of which your country is a member. Japan, is determined to cooperate, in accordance with the ideal of a peaceful nation, with the United Nations at the center, on peace keeping operations (PKO), particularly cooperating in goods, money, and people. We are determined to promote to the best of our ability cooperation for world peace, with the United Nations at the center. I spoke of this repeatedly in my speech yesterday at the China-Japan Youth Exchange Center. Premier Li Peng at the summit meeting said that China has already decided in principle to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). I would like to praise this highly. The world was formerly under bipolar control. Now that such a state of affairs no longer exists, the possibility arises of conflicts occurring around issues of religion and race. Japan has proposed the strengthening of United Nations functions and the creation of a United Nations reporting system for arms transfers so that specified countries in the region do not become stockpilers of weapons. We proposed this at the [United Nations] Kyoto Conference on Disarmament and at the [G7] Summit, and the spirit of this was written into the Summit Statement. There are countries with various views regarding this system, but Japan has gained their agreement to it in principle. I would like to obtain China’s understanding and cooperation on arms control and disarmament. I also hope that Japan and China will discuss these issues and take joint action.

(4) I appreciate the progress under way in reform and opening. Various people visit Japan from China. We sometimes hear from the Chinese people whom Ambassador Yang Zhenya brings with him concerning the actual state of affairs in reform and opening. At last year’s summit and at this year’s one, we said that it was important not to isolate China from the international community and to provide support and assistance for China’s reform and opening. We said that Japan may adopt its own actions in support and assistance but the role of Japan and China to play in the stability and peace in the Asia-Pacific region is great.

(5) Frankly speaking, the international community continues to observe with keen interest the situation of China’s “democracy and human rights.” I would like to ask China to make further efforts of its own on this issue. If China makes efforts, I would like to let the world know about it and I hope that there will be progress on this issue.

4. In reply, General Secretary Jiang said the following:

(1) I would like to say something as chairman of the Central Military Commission. China’s military spending is too low. I think that Premier Li Peng also said so at the summit meeting, but reducing military spending would be difficult. We carried out some large cuts a few years ago. I hope that you understand that China has approximately 10 million square kilometers of territory and long national boundaries. Defense is a major task. China’s defense policy is absolutely not the invasion of other countries.

(2) Regarding the arms trade, I hear that Premier Li Peng spoke of the three-point principle at the summit meeting and that both sides reached a consensus, so duplication will be avoided. This idea is not the opinion of Premier Li Peng but the policy of the Communist Party of China. Regarding the issue of the arms trade, there is an enormous difference in respect to level and number if we compare China’s weapons to those of the various advanced Western countries. There is a Chinese proverb that goes Zhi xu guojia fanghuo buxu minzhong diandeng (The magistrates are free to burn down the houses, while the common people are forbidden to even light lamps.). Such an approach is no good. Both China and Japan agree that the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council should play an active role in global peace and stability. However, the situation described in the Chinese proverb Xie tianzi yi ling zhuhou (To have the emperor in one's power and order the dukes about in his name) will not do. China acts with caution in regard to weapon transfers. In terms of China’s level of technology, economic power, and even morality, China will never go too far. Whatever a nation’s ideology, relations between nations should be undertaken on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. The key point is mutual non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs.

(3) In regard to nuclear non-proliferation, China’s nuclear weapons are primarily for its own defense. China is the first country to have declared no first use of nuclear weapons. In the level of our nuclear weapons, too, we are behind in comparison to the advanced nations. We recognize that having nuclear weapons plays an important role in maintaining world peace. That Premier Li Peng made the announcement on joining the NPT at the time of Prime Minister Kaifu’s visit to China is an expression of his trust in Prime Minster Kaifu. Ideally, we hope that there will be no nuclear weapons forever, but practical matters cannot be settled by idealism. I am pleased that the summit meeting was successful and that results came of it.

5. At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister said that he would extend an invitation to His Excellency to visit Japan at an appropriate time of his choosing. General Secretary Jiang thanked him for the invitation and said that he would like to visit Japan again and see the places that he had visited in the past.

Passed to the four diplomatic missions in China and to the Permanent Mission to the United Nations. (End)