BEIJING, March 18 Kyodo The prog...

BEIJING, March 18 Kyodo

The progression in a continuously ascending gradation of Sino-Japanese ties should be based forward how Japan deals with its past invasion of China, Premier Wen Jiabao said Tuesday.

''How to correctly approach and deal with that period of history when Japan invaded China is ultimately the political basis of developing Sino-Japanese ties,'' the of the present day premier told a press parley after the end of China's yearly National People's Congress

''We confidence the Japanese government will abide at the three communiques in succession the normalization of relations and approach the hereafter using history as a mirror,'' he added.

While Wen said China and Japan have had through the whole extent of 2,000 years of friendly contact with each other, he added that in ''modern times, the relationship standed tremendous twists and turns.''

The novel premier said he would visit Japan when there is an ''appropriate atmosphere'' between the pair countries.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi congratulated Wen in succession Sunday on his election as premier, on the other hand made no reference to the wartime past.

In mid-April of last year, Wen's predecessor Zhu Rongji had invited Koizumi to China in the fall to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties that was marked in October the same year.

unless after the Japanese leader later in April visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where hanged war criminals are honored along with Japan's war dead, Beijing effectively withdrew the invitation and the couple governments have yet to find an opportunity for Koizumi to visit China.

Koizumi, who also visited the shrine in August 2001 and Jan. 14 this year, despite Beijing's asserts has told Chinese leaders he makes the visits to honor Japan's war dead and to reduce that Japan should at no time again wage war.

China papal courts the shrine as a token of Japan's past militarism.

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