Yasushi Akashi, head of the Japanese delegation to the 9th Tokyo-Beijing Forum, expressed hope in Beijing on Oct. 25 that the annual gathering of prominent opinion leaders from Japan and China will serve as a "new starting point" for Japan-China relations.

Speaking on behalf of the Japanese host organization of the forum, The Genron NPO, at a banquet at a Beijing hotel on the eve of the two-day meeting, Akashi referred to the remarks made by Deng Xiaoping, then vice premier of China, on the occasion of his official visit to Tokyo in October 1978 for the exchange of ratifications of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Akashi quoted Deng as having said that he expected the signing of the treaty to be "a new starting point" for the relationship between China and Japan.

The former U.N. Undersecretary-general and currently chairman of the International House of Japan said that the significance of non-governmental dialogue like the one in the Tokyo-Beijing Forum is to "indirectly" help promote the official government-to-government diplomacy in pursuit of an agreement.

Akashi thereby called on the participating politicians, former bureaucrats, business executives, journalists and others from both countries to listen to the opinions of the other party "in a level-headed manner" and to conduct discussions "in a serious and candid manner."

Representing the Chinese host of the forum, the state-owned English-language newspaper publisher China Daily, Deputy Chief Editor Gao Anming emphasized the significance of the annual meeting by stating that the Tokyo-Beijing Forum has become "the most important platform for China-Japan public diplomacy." The forum was co-founded in 2005 by the China Daily and The Genron NPO, a non-profit think tank in Japan.

Gao Anming also said at the banquet that this year's forum should be the occasion for dialogue to show the way toward the improvement of China-Japan relations by reconfirming the basics of the 35-year-old treaty, that is, "longing for peace."

Representing the Japanese participants, Koichi Kato, chairman of the Japan-China Friendship Association, said that he highly valued the holding of the 9th Tokyo-Japan Forum in that the annual event has been organized with the intention of making a breakthrough in the bilateral relations impasse.

"Today, Japan-China friendship is probably one of the most unpopular things in both Japan and China. But the sentiment of the Japanese public is gradually returning to normalcy while China's anger is beginning to cool," observed Kato, a former member of the House of Representatives. He thus voiced hope that the forum will serve to help improve the chilled bilateral relations.

Kato was followed by Li Wei, director of the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who congratulated Tokyo's success in winning the bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, which made the participants, Japanese and Chinese alike, erupt into cheers and applause.

Li pointed out that China and Japan have hitherto been achieving "peaceful development," adding that no one in either country desires to see the peaceful development suspended.

She admitted that Japan and China might no longer be able to return to the days when the peace and friendship treaty was signed but stressed that it may be possible for both countries to go back to the "spirit of peace," which constitutes the backbone of the Japan-China Peace and Friendship Treaty signed 35 years ago