| June 28 (Thu) Chinese President JIAN Zemin meets with SEN Soshi and other delegation representatives The 100th Urasenke Friendship Mission to China fulfilled an important mission objective this day, when delegation leader SEN Soshi and wife, SEN Masako, together with other officers and representatives of the mission, paid an official call on Chinese President JIANG Zemin at the Zhongnanhai in Beijing, to express Japan's good will to the Chinese people and deliver to President Jiang a handwritten letter to this effect from Japanese Prime Minister KOIZUMI Jun'ichiro. President Jiang immediately read the letter, and expressed that he was happy to receive such a friendly, personally written epistle from the Japanese Prime Minister. He went on to say that though there were unfortunate episodes in the history between Japan and China, we should let history serve as a refractor in setting our sights on the future, and that both nations need to hold hands and carve out a bright future for Asia. SEN Soshi responded by stating that he is determined to deepen the exchange between the young generation of people in both countries, and to carry on and further develop the friendship programs initiated by his elders and those before him.
Most of the delegates spent this day sightseeing along four different courses around Beijing. By evening, all were back on the Fujimaru docked in Tianjin Port, where they had a joyful dinner together as the ship made ready to take them to Dalian.
|
