Speaker Oshima's video meeting with Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress
On Tuesday, 15 December, Mr. OSHIMA Tadamori, Speaker of the House of Representatives, had a first video teleconference with Mr. Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China.
The meeting began with Chairman Li delivering his greetings.
Following Chairman Li's greeting, Speaker Oshima replied by expressing his appreciation for Mr. Li's congratulations on him becoming the longest-serving Speaker. He also expressed his pleasure at meeting with the chairman for the first time since their previous meeting in July 2018 in Beijing. Referring to the 50th anniversary of normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China in 2022, Speaker Oshima noted his firm belief that bilateral dialogue and exchange have enabled the two countries to overcome various difficulties since the normalization. He then remarked that at the same time, between the two countries, there exist difficult issues and concerns as neighboring countries, which call for efforts to tangibly improve the situation by squarely addressing these matters. He also commented that both Japan and China need to share awareness on regional and global issues including COVID-19 and that the two countries have a responsibility to contribute to addressing these issues. He expressed his hope that the two countries will have candid dialogues, explore ways for cooperation, and overcome common issues.
After their greetings and replies, Mr. Oshima and Mr. Li exchanged views. Mr. Oshima mentioned the necessity to develop stable ties of cooperation between the two countries. He then referred to specific bilateral issues and concerns, as well as concerns expressed by the international community, and asked for a positive response from China.
Speaker Oshima and Chairman Li confirmed that parliamentary interaction is important in the context of broad exchange between the two countries.
