Favorable atmosphere needed for China-Japan high-level exchanges: spokesperson

China and Japan should restore bilateral ties to normality as early as possible so as to create a favorable atmosphere for high-level exchanges, a spokesperson for the annual session of China's top political advisory body said Friday.

Wang Guoqing, spokesman for the first session of the 13th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, speaks during a press conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday, March 2, 2018. [Photo: China Plus]

"We have noted that lately the Japanese side has released some positive signals on its ties with China and bilateral relations showed some signs of improvement," said Wang Guoqing, spokesman for the first session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). "We do hope the two sides can value and seize this opportunity."

The two countries should accumulate positive factors and restore ties based on four important political documents and a four-point principled agreement reached between them, he said.

The reason why Sino-Japanese relations are sometimes good and sometimes bad is repeated relapse of the Japanese government's attitude on historical issues as well as the "narrow perspective of some Japanese politicians who consider China as a strategic rival," he said.

"A country that tries to forget its past and fails to face up to history will not earn respect," he said.

He suggested that the two countries take history as a mirror and face towards the future.

"As long as the wellbeing of Japanese and Chinese people is taken to heart, bilateral relations will be able to break this odd pattern of ups and downs," he said.