On March 15, 2004, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with visiting Special Envoy and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Dai Bingguo. Wu Dawei, Ambassador of China to Japan, was also present at the meeting.

Dai Bingguo conveyed to Prime Minister Koizumi the good wishes of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao and presented a letter addressed to Prime Minister Koizumi by President Hu Jintao. Koizumi expressed his thanks and asked Dai Bingguo to extend his regards to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

Dai Bingguo said that recently the perception about China's development within Japan has shown positive changes, which, to a large extent, is related to Prime Minister Koizumi's view that China's development is not a threat but an opportunity to Japan. China hopes that the Japanese side can proceed from the strategic perspective of friendly relations between China and Japan in the 21st century and properly handle relevant sensitive political issues and make China-Japan relations develop faster and better.

Dai Bingguo introduced current situations across the Taiwan Straits and related positions of the Chinese government. He said that it is appreciated by us that the Japanese government has long adhered to the One-China policy and indicated a positive attitude toward the situation in Taiwan at the end of last year. We hope that Japan will continue to stick to the One-China policy and offer its support for China's lofty cause of peaceful reunification.

Koizumi said that the active exchanges in various fields and rapidly growing trade volume between China and Japan have proven that the perception about China's development as an opportunity instead of a threat to Japan is becoming a reality. The Japanese government will continue to pursue its friendly policy toward China and maintain the momentum of friendly cooperation between the two countries, and he is personally willing to make efforts to push forward development of friendly relations between the two countries. Koizumi expressed appreciation for China's efforts to maintain stability across the Taiwan Straits and to resolve the Taiwan issue peacefully. He also expressed thanks to China for its great efforts in the just-concluded six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Earlier, Dai Bingguo also held talks or met with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda Yasuo, representative of Komei Party Kanzaki Takenori and representative of Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Kan Naoto. The two sides exchanged views on China-Japan relations, situations across the Taiwan Straits, the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and other issues of common concern in a candid and in-depth manner. The Japanese side expressed full understanding of China's great concerns over situations across the Taiwan Straits, saying that the Japanese government will continue to stick to its stance on the Taiwan issue that it has made clear in Sino-Japan Joint Statement and other relevant documents, will not support "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan", will not support "Taiwan independence", and hopes for peaceful reunification of the two sides across the Taiwan Straits through dialogue. The Japanese side also indicated that against the backdrop of a possible "referendum" on the Taiwan Island recently, Japan has openly made clear its position many times that the Taiwan authorities should exercise caution with regard to this matter.