enough to speak before this gathering. But, in Japanese bureaucracy
where officials are often moved from one place to another after one year
or two, it is often said that after three days you should get settled down,
after three weeks you are not allowed to use the excuse that you are a
newcomer and after three months you should behave like an expert. I
don't know this rule applies to officials outside of the country. Anyway
I will try my best.
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(JAPAN-CHINA RELATIONS)
Today happens to be the 29th of September. This date is a very
important one in the post-war Japanese diplomacy. Twenty years ago
today, the 29th of September 1972, Japan and China normalized the
relations and agreed to establish diplomatic relations at the
ambassadorial level. Therefore, I will start my speech by telling you
about Japan-China relationship. Japan and China are neighbours who
have a long history of interchange. We consider it very important to
have stable, good neighbourly relations looking towards the future
between the two countries. On the whole, our relations have been good
since the normalization of relations in 1972. After the June Fourth
Tiananmen incident, the relations were strained. Through mutual efforts
of both countries, such as the visit of then Prime Minister Kaifu to China
in August last year and the visit of General-Secretary Jiang Zemin to
Japan in April this year, the relations became improved. The question of
human rights and democratization is a matter of concern to the
international community, including Japan, but, we think that the right
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