2008/05/31 20:34China's top military commander has thanked Japan's Defense Minister for deciding to use private cargo planes, instead of Self Defense Force planes, to deliver earthquake relief supplies.
The deputy chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, Ma Xiaotian, exchanged views with Shigeru Ishiba at a regional security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
Ishiba said that the Japanese government examined various options for transporting aid supplies from Japan to quake-hit Sichuan Province.
He says the Chinese government never insisted on using Self Defense Forces cargo planes.
He added that Japan understands and respects China's culture, tradition and national sentiment in regard to the history between the two countries.
Ma said that China and Japan share complicated historical, cultural and psychological backgrounds. But he said he thinks the Japanese people understand the ambivalent sentiment that the Chinese government and Chinese people have.
The Japanese government plans to use privately chartered planes to deliver additional aid supplies including tents and blankets to China at the beginning of next week.
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