Related: President Hu meets heads of Japan-China friendship groups
              Heads of Japan-China friendship organizations arrive in Beijing

    BEIJING, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao said here on Friday that he is ready to have meetings or dialogues with Japanese leaders as long as the latter makes a clear-cut decision of paying no more visits to the Yasukuni Shrine where Japan's World War II war criminals are enshrined.

    Hu made the remarks when meeting the heads of seven Japan-China friendship organizations based in Japan at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

    "As long as the Japanese leader makes a clear-cut decision of no longer visiting the Yasukuni Shrine where the Class-A (WWII) war criminals are enshrined, I would like to hold meetings and dialogues with the Japanese leader on how to improve and further develop Sino-Japanese relations," Hu told the guests.

    Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro's repeated pilgrimage to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including a dozen top World War II criminals, has resulted in the suspension of high-level contacts between the two countries.

    The Chinese president told the Japanese guests that the Chinese government has a "clear," "consistent" and "unswerving" stance on its relations with Japan.

    The Chinese government will, as always, handle China-Japan relations from a strategic and long-term point of view, and it is committed to the peaceful coexistence, long-term friendship, and mutually beneficial cooperation and common development between the two countries, Hu said.

    "The Chinese government will abide by the principles of the three Sino-Japanese political documents, including the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, continue to adhere to the principle of taking history as a mirror and looking into the future, and properly settle the problems between the two sides through equal consultations, so as to maintain the overall situation of China-Japan friendship," said Hu.

    He said China will firmly pursue the diplomatic principle of building friendship and partnership with neighboring countries, actively promote Sino-Japanese exchanges and cooperation in diversified fields, and enhance the friendly feelings between the two peoples.

    The seven Japanese organizations, which have come as the guests of the China-Japan Friendship Association, are namely the Japanese Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Association of Dietmen League for Japan-China Friendship, Japan-China Friendship Association, Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association, Japan-China Association on Economy and Trade, Japan-China Society, and Japan-China Friendship Center.

    The heads of the organizations include former Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura. Enditem