China, ROK urge Japan to reflect on its history

BEIJING - Lawmakers from China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) issued a joint press communique Wednesday, urging Japan to reflect on its history of aggression and colonization.

The two sides expressed grave concerns over the incorrect understanding of history expressed by Japanese leaders and politicians recently, urging Japan to adopt a sincere attitude of reflection so as to make joint efforts with neighboring countries to build cooperative relations, said the communique.

The communique was agreed upon during the eighth meeting of regular exchanges between China's National People's Congress (NPC) and the ROK National Assembly held on August 20 in Beijing.

According to the communique, the two delegations were led by Zhang Ping, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, and Lee Byung-Suk, vice speaker of the ROK National Assembly.

The delegations also agreed that it is of great importance to the peace and stability of the region to realize denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, said the communique.

It is in the interests of all parties concerned to solve relevant issues via peaceful negotiations, it said. The ROK delegation reaffirmed its stance of no tolerance to the possession of nuclear weapons by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to the communique.

The delegations spoke highly of the recent resumption of the North-South dialogue, expressed welcome to the Korean Peninsula trust-building process and the Northeast Asia peace and cooperation initiative proposed by the ROK. They also agreed to jointly work for the restart of the long-stalled six-party nuclear talks, said the communique.

It also said both delegations agreed that the two parliaments should make joint efforts to push forward the free trade agreement negotiations between China and the ROK.