Chinese warship makes first postwar visit to Japan available (Roundup)

Nov 28, 2007, 8:52 GMT

   Tokyo - The international community should not be concerned over China's military buildup because Beijing promotes better transparency in the modern days, a Chinese military official said Wednesday on the occasion of the first Chinese warship port call in Japan.

'Transparency is very high in the modernization of the Chinese military...No concerns should exist,' Rear Admiral Xiao Xinnian, deputy chief of staff of the South China Sea Fleet, told a press conference on the missile destroyer Shenzhen, which arrived at Harumi port on an historical goodwill visit.

As China's economy is growing, Xiao said it is 'reasonable' for the nation to 'improve military equipment and treatment of soldiers.'

The improvement is for self defence, Xiao added.

On the first military visit by the Communist China's People's Liberation Army to Japan, Shenzhen will be docked for four days as a symbol of improving military co-operation between the two countries. A Japanese warship will visit China at a later date.

The Chinese officer acknowledged the differences between Beijing and Tokyo in the gas field development in the East China Sea, but he said the two governments should not consider that as 'disputes.'

'Any problems can be resolved' if negotiators 'sit down in a peaceful atmosphere,' he said.

The two nations have negotiated over the gas field development since 2004 and failed to reach an agreement at the 11th round of talks earlier month on the plan to carry out a joint project.

The unsettled demarcation of the East China Sea has become a point of contention because the exclusive economic zones claimed by the two countries overlap.

But Wednesday's arrival of the Chinese warship was a symbol of friendship, Xiao said.

   'The Shenzhen brought not only the crew of 345 members but also friendly feelings of 1.3 billion people in China,' the Chinese admiral said.

   Admiral Eiji Yoshikawa, Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force chief of staff, said the naval visit will mark the beginning of a new defence co-operation.

    Diplomatic relations between Japan and China have been tense over the past years with former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine angering China.

   A planned visit by a Chinese military ship in May 2002 was canceled after Koizumi visited the shrine in Tokyo. China had not sent a naval ship to Japan since 1934.

    Relations are showing signs of improving, with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and his Japanese colleague Yasuo Fukuda agreeing at the recent ASEAN summit that both countries are at a turning point.

   Japan hopes to make the exchange of naval visits a routine ceremony between Japanese Self-Defence Forces and the Chinese military.