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China hints at opposition to Japan on UN seat
(AP/China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-01 19:13 Yasukuni visits are alienating Japan
Rome was not built in a day. It was not demolished in a day either.
Whoever starts the trouble should face up to it squarely and settle it.
Japan refuses to do so. What is more, the words from its prime minister and
foreign minister have chilled the country's relations with its neighbours to the
bone.
China has turned down bilateral talks with Japan at the sidelines of a
meeting of Asian leaders in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia later this month. The
Republic of Korea (ROK) is reportedly not going to hold such talks with Japan
either.
The biggest stumbling block to Japan's sour relations with China and the ROK
is the Yasukuni Shrine.
The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in the attitude
towards them.
Japanese leaders have made their neighbours abundantly clear about their
attitude.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on
Wednesday that the issue of Yasukuni is not an international one.
He is oblivious to criticism from other Asian countries about his visits to
the Shrine.
At his summit with ROK President Roh Moo-hyun, Koizumi made references to
Japan's relationship with the ROK and China, adding there was "nothing to worry
about."
He added his own wishful thinking that his Yasukuni visits should not impede
economic and other exchanges between his country and its neighbours.
The prime minister cannot get his Yasukuni pilgrimage, which has iced his
Asia diplomacy, out of his mind.
He felt wronged when receiving criticism from China, the ROK and people in
his own country. He said he has the "right to freedom of spirit."
Koizumi has blurred the line between the right to freedom of spirit and his
country's attitude and responsibility in dealing with an ugly and indelible
past.
Both China and the ROK have made it clear that Japanese politicians' Yasukuni
visits are not bearable and have turned out to be a thorn in bilateral
relations.
No thaw is visible if Japanese leaders keep paying homage to the
controversial shrine.
The politicians in Japan know it well. Since Koizumi took office in 2001,
Japan has faced diplomatic spats with China and the ROK over his visits to
Yasukuni Shrine. On October 17, Koizumi made his fifth Yasukuni visit as prime
minister, as Japan's relations with the two neighbours soured.
Koizumi's failure to bridge gaps with China and the ROK at the recently
concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum was an obvious consequence of
Japan's Asia diplomacy.
No meetings between Japan and the two neighbours are expected at the upcoming
ASEAN summit.
The summit is a test of Asian countries' abilities to improve co-operation
within the region. The chilly wind from Tokyo could poison the meeting and
sabotage this effort.
It is understandable that Japan pays no heed to its neighbours while enjoying
a strong alliance with the United States. Koizumi's diplomatic priority, in
fact, remains firmly fixed on strengthening Japan-US ties.
Koizumi says that as long as ties between his country and the United States
remain good, Japan will build favourable relations with China and the ROK.
Koizumi may well have drawn support from Japanese voters, who favoured the
LDP he heads in the September general election.
If Koizumi is emboldened by the support and makes more visits to the shrine,
Japan will surely alienate itself in Asia.
The issue of Yasukuni is not a test of will, but a matter of principle.
Yasukuni visits by Japanese politicians including the prime minister are not
understood today and will never be in the future. Time will not settle the
issue. Japan, which ties the knot in its relations with neighbours, knows well
how to untie it.
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