Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said Tuesday that China hopes for "friendship and good neighborliness" with Japan but warned Tokyo not to take part in a "new Cold War" led by Washington to exert pressure on Beijing.
"Should some people from the Japanese side choose the beggar-thy-neighbor approach rather than a friendly partnership and take part in a new Cold War to contain China, bilateral relations will only suffer new wounds when the old ones are yet to be healed," Qin said told a press conference in Beijing.
When asked about China's relations with Japan, Qin touched on historical issues, saying, "The immense sufferings imposed by the Japanese militarists on the Chinese nation are still painful today. The Chinese people will not forget this and the Japanese side must not forget."
The foreign minister expressed concern about Japan's plan to discharge treated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, crippled in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, into the sea, saying it is "a major issue vital to the marine environment and human health."
"We urge the Japanese side to properly handle this matter in a responsible manner," Qin said at the press conference on the sidelines of China's annual congress to outline the policies of President Xi Jinping, who started a norm-breaking third five-year term as general secretary of the ruling Communist Party.
On relations with the United States, Qin accused Washington of pursuing "hegemony" and "camp-based confrontation," and of seeking with its allies to contain China.
Regarding Taiwan, Qin said China will "continue to pursue peaceful reunification" with the self-governed island but added that Beijing retains "the option of taking all necessary measures."
He said no country, including the United States, has the right to interfere in Taiwan affairs.
The Taiwan issue is "the first red line that cannot be crossed in Sino-U.S. relations," said Qin, former ambassador to the United States who assumed the post of foreign minister in December.
