President Hu Jintao on Saturday urged Japan to handle the issue of history in a "serious and prudent manner."
"The past, if not forgotten, can serve as a guide for the future. By emphasizing the need to always remember the past, we do not mean to continue the hatred. Instead, we want to draw lessons from history and be forward-looking," said Hu during a nationwide-televised speech at the Great Hall of the People to mark the 60th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
"By solemnly commemorating that victory, we will keep history firmly in mind, never forget the past, cherish peace and create a better future," he added.
He urged Japanese leaders to "translate the apologies and remorse they have expressed for that war of aggression into concrete actions."
The president stressed that China intends to seek national rejuvenation through peaceful means.
Reiterating China's approach to peaceful development, he said that "China has never sought hegemony, and never will in the future."
The rally marking the 60th anniversary of the victory in China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War was attended by 6,000 people, including silver-haired Chinese and foreign veterans, patriots from home and abroad, diplomats and officials. The meeting observed a tribute of silence to the war dead.
Hu gave a positive appraisal to the role played by the Kuomintang (KMT) in the war, noting that resistance forces under the leadership of the KMT and the Communist Party of China formed a strategic common front against the enemy.
As the main force on frontal battlefields, the KMT army organized a series of major campaigns, which dealt heavy blows to the Japanese aggressors, said Hu.
He also praised Taiwan compatriots for their resistance against Japanese occupation. A total of 650,000 of them died in half a century of Japanese occupation of Taiwan.
Hu said positive measures will be adopted to push cross-Straits exchanges so as to safeguard peace and stability in the region.
Nevertheless, he warned that "Taiwan independence" forces will never be permitted to secede Taiwan from the motherland by any means.
Turning to China's relations with Japan, Hu said China was committed to developing healthy and stable relations with Japan.
The China-Japan relations have been strained recently by the visits of Japanese leaders to the Yasukuni Shrine, where convicted war criminals are honored, and Tokyo's approval of history textbooks glorifying Japan's war records.
China suffered more than 35 million casualties during the war and its direct economic losses exceeded US$100 billion at the price in 1937.
Commemorations started on Saturday morning with a 60-gun salute on Tiananmen Square and the flying of 6,000 pigeons symbolizing peace.
Soldiers laid nine huge wreaths at the Monument to the People's Heroes in a ceremony attended by about 10,000 people.
On the same day, Hu conferred commemorative medals to 10 veterans. Nationwide, more than 700,000 living Chinese veterans or late ones' family dependents received special medals.
President Hu also held a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday night. Putin said Russia and China had close cooperation during the war and the post-war reconstruction, which laid down a solid foundation for Russia-China friendship and cooperation.
(China Daily September 5, 2005)
