Meeting between ISHIBASHI Tanzan and ZHOU Enlai (Collection of the Ishibashi Tanzan Memorial Foundation)

Prime Minister ISHIBASHI Tanzan fell ill soon after taking office and resigned, but stepped up efforts to promote diplomacy with Communist countries while undergoing medical treatment. In September 1959 (Showa 34), ISHIBASHI visited the People's Republic of China and met with Chinese Premier ZHOU Enlai. After the meeting, the two issued a joint statement, which called for Japan and P.R. China to make efforts to normalize their relations. ISHIBASHI proposed that four countries -- Japan, P.R. China, the United States and the Soviet Union -- form a peace alliance, an idea he had long cherished. In 1964 (Showa 39), he visited the Soviet Union.