"In total disregard of China's reasonable position on the nuclear issue and its great efforts toward nuclear disarmament, the Japanese Diet passed a resolution protesting China's limited nuclear tests. This is unacceptable to China. Japan as a country protected with a nuclear umbrella should understand China's position of conducting necessary but limited nuclear tests in face of nuclear threat. We hope the Japanese will proceed from the overall interests of Sino-Japanese relations and approach the issue with a cool mind." ["News Briefings by the Chinese Foreign Ministry," Beijing Review, 8-14 July 1996, p. 8]

"Sino-Japanese economic cooperation is built on the basis of equality and mutual benefits...Japan has provided loans for China's reconstruction, which is highly appreciated by the Chinese people...Japan has also benefited much from it, for its economy has been boosted...The invasion launched by the Japanese militarists inflicted great losses to China, which can never be compensated for by loans."

Li further stated: "Japan is the only country that has ever suffered from the atomic bomb, and we understand what the Japanese people feel about it...However, Japan, with a strong nuclear shield provided by the United States, should understand that China needs its own nuclear deterrence, given that the world is still not safe enough...Therefore, Japan should not make a fuss over China's nuclear tests and use economic means to exert pressure on China." ["Japan: Big Fuss Over Nuclear Tests," Beijing Review, 16-22 October 1995, p. 22.]

"We deeply regret the Japanese government's decision to freeze most grant aid to China for the remainder of the 1995 fiscal year…China has only a small stockpile of nuclear weapons and its limited nuclear testing is in no way directed against any other country. China poses absolutely no threat to Japan or other countries…Then government reiterates that Sino-Japanese economic cooperation is based on equality and mutual benefit, and the nation is firmly against any practice of attaching political conditionsn to economic cooperation. This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the world's victory in the anti-fascist war and China's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. The Japanese government should engage in deep introspection of previous war crimes and conscientiously draw lessons from history. Instead, the Japanese government is attempting to create a major issue concerning China's nuclear testing program. Therefore, one cannot help to wonder about the true political motives of their move, a move that could very possibly be detrimental to the sound development of Sino-Japanese relations." ["News Briefings by the Chinese Foreign Ministry," Beijing Review, 18-24 September 1995, p. 9]

"We oppose the practice of linking economic issues with political ones. Doing so is not wise and will harm Sino-Japanese relations. We hope that the Japanese government will put itself in a correct place." ["News Briefing by Chinese Foreign Ministry," Beijing Review, 12-18 June 1995, p. 21]