Hu says Japan trip achieved hoped-for results
Chinese President Hu Jintao concluded his trip to Japan on Saturday, saying he has achieved the results he had hoped for as he toured the western part of the country on the last day of his five-day state visit, Kyodo News reported.
Hu, the first Chinese head of state to visit Japan in a decade, left aboard a special Air China flight from Osaka International Airport in the late afternoon.
“I believe that this trip has achieved the expected results,” Hu said earlier in the day at the outset of his talks with Nara Gov. Shogo Arai in Osaka’s neighboring Nara Prefecture.
“I think this will greatly promote bilateral ties in the future,” he said in the portion of the talks that was open to the press.
In Nara, Hu toured two celebrated temples - Horyuji and Toshodaiji - amid rain in the morning.
Hu joined his palms together in a Buddhist prayer and greeting gesture as he was met by Horyuji chief priest Genmyo Ono, who guided the Chinese president through the grounds including the Kondo main hall, the oldest surviving wooden building in the world, Kyodo said.
A group of about 50 people, including Japanese and Tibetan students, gathered outside Toshodaiji, holding Tibetan flags and a large banner reading “Free Tibet,” but no major disruption occurred.
Security was tight in Nara for the first visit to the prefecture by a Chinese head of state.
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Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 1:02 am under