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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (front R) makes a speech after visiting the Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam, capital of Germany's Brandenburg state, where the Potsdam Proclamation was issued in 1945, May 26, 2013. Li Keqiang arrived in Germany late Saturday for an official visit. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
POTSDAM, Germany -- World peace and the international order established after World War II brook no damage nor denial, visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday.
"All peace-loving people should uphold the post-war peace order which brooks no damage nor denial," Li said at a visit to the Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam, capital of Germany's Brandenburg state, where the Potsdam Proclamation was issued in 1945.
"China would like to work with all peace-loving people to uphold the post-war order and safeguard world peace and prosperity," he said.
Speaking as a Chinese person and a representative of the Chinese people, Li said, "I would like to stress that paragraph 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation makes it clear that the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out."
The Cairo Declaration, in turn, states that all the territories that Japan had stolen from China, such as Northeast China, Taiwan and related islands, shall be restored to China, said the Chinese premier.
"This was a victory secured at the price of tens of thousands of lives and an important underpinning of the world order established after WWII," he said.
The Potsdam Proclamation represented a banner of justice -- more importantly, an ultimatum -- issued to the fascist forces of the world, said Li.
Twenty days later, Japan announced acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation and its unconditional surrender, he said.
"This was a victory both for the Chinese people and people elsewhere. This history will never be forgotten," he said.
Li said history is an objective existence and a mirror, and that "only by facing history squarely can one have a future."
"The Chinese people will not accept any comments or actions that seek to deny or glorify the history of fascist aggression; nor are these acceptable to the forces of justice elsewhere that value peace," he said.
Only in a peaceful international environment can people everywhere enjoy a good life, Li said.
The Chinese and the Germans are all peace-loving people committed to friendly relations between China and Germany and between China and Europe, said Li, adding that China stands ready to work with Germany and Europe to further maintain world peace and promote common development.
Brandenburg Governor Matthias Platzeck said in a meeting with Li after the tour that the Potsdam Proclamation has shaped the post-war world order for decades.
It is an important historical document that continues to have an important impact and role to this day, he said.
The Chinese premier arrived in Berlin on Saturday for an official visit to Germany, the only country in the European Union in his first overseas tour since taking office in March.
Li is scheduled to meet with German President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel later in the day.
He will also deliver a speech at a business luncheon and hold talks with German political and business figures.
Germany is the last leg of Li's four-nation trip, which has taken him to India, Pakistan and Switzerland. |
