Analysis: Why Does Japanese PM Postpone His China Visit?

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 16, 2002

Analysis: Why Does Japanese PM Postpone His China Visit?

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has decided to put off his visit to China, there is necessity here in suddenness. Chinese Premier Zhu Ronji invited Koizumi to Beijing when they met in April.

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Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has decided to put off his visit to China, there is necessity here in suddenness.

Koizumi has always had partiality for Yasukuni Shrine, which is enshrined with class-A war criminals and represents a spiritual prop of militarism. When he was lobbying for the election of Hiromo Nonaka (the Liberal Democratic Party) chief last year, he repeatedly declared his determination to visit the Shrine on August 15.

Thereafter, due to the strong opposition of China, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and other Asian countries and Japan's domestic pressure, he was compelled to change his schedule, visiting the Shrine roughly on August 13. As expected, this visit quickly led to the retrogression of Japan's relations with other Asian countries.

As the saying, "let him untie the knot he himself tied" goes, in October last year when Koizumi visited the Memorial Hall of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japan in Lugouqiao (Marco Polo) Bridge, he published his speech on making self-examination of the war and apologizing for Japan's acts of aggression. In addition, in the capacity of Japanese Prime Minister, he also paid a visit to the Japanese prison in the ROK to show his reflection on the aggressive war and colonial rule.

But what's inconsistent with these verbal apologies and superficial self-examination is that Koizumi again visited Yasukuni Shrine in April this year, thus causing hardships again to Japan's relations with the Asian countries, which had just been restored.

The Japanese side explained the postponement of Koizumi's China visit as "the heavy schedule of the Chinese side", this is indeed an act of deception of itself and others. Because since the Chinese government has issued the invitation, it shows that the Chinese side has included its reception of the Japanese Prime Minister in its foreign affairs agenda. As the Chinese side is able to receive the director-general of the Liberal Democratic Party visiting China and the Chinese leaders are able to meet with the representative of the Prime Minister, it is unlikely that they have no time to meet with the Prime Minister himself.

It is also hard to understand the time chosen by Koizumi to announce the postponement of his visit to China, because it happened just shortly before "August 15", the commemoration day of Japan's surrender in the war. Although Koizumi decided not to pay respects to the Shrine on "August 15" this year, he clearly expressed that he "does not promise not to visit it in the future".

In fact, he was carrying favor with Japan's right-wingers and pandering to militarist forces and going with the anti-China adverse current. An analyst points out that Koizumi did so to show his diplomatic strength to pander to nationalism, so as reach his aim of raising the rate of support for the cabinet.

Since Koizumi took office, he has hoisted the banner of reforms, but this mostly remains in words, in questions related to financial and postal reforms, he time and again compromised with the resistance forces, the rate of support to his cabinet fell from the early 80 percent to less than 40 percent.Therefore Koizumi wanted to arouse the public's support through his diplomatic "strength".

Over the past 30 years since the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, bilateral ties have witnessed tremendous development in various aspects, personnel contacts, economic exchange and cultural cooperation, in particular, have become the important fields for bilateral development. But the problem of Japan's understanding of history has always been a fetter in the relations between the two countries.

Some Japanese media hold that China is playing a "card of history", making it a means for striking Japan. In fact, this is not the case. How to look upon the history of Japan's aggression and the untold suffering it brought on the Asian countries and people is a principled question of distinguishing justice from unjustness and a cardinal issue of right and wrong.

Therefore, the Chinese side has repeatedly stressed that the question of understanding history, like the Taiwan issue, is the political foundation for Sino-Japan relations. Koizumi's postponement of his China visit because of the question of Yasukuni Shrine shows the seriousness of the question of understanding history in China-Japan relations.

Fifty-seven years have passed since the aggressive war launched by Japan, but so far the Japanese government has refused to rid itself of this kind of "negative legacy", this indicates the protracted nature and arduousness of the struggle between Asian countries and Japan over the question of understanding history. However, only by having an early clear understanding of the nature of historical issues and laying down the historical burden, can Japan really merge itself into Asia at an early date. This should be Japan's only choice!.

By People's Daily Online

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