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Koizumi's shrine visits sour Sino-Japanese relations
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-29 10:06
The year 2005 will end with deteriorating Sino-Japanese political relations
due to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the
Yasukuni Shrine.
Turning a deaf ear to the criticisms and protests at home and abroad, the
prime minister has paid tribute to the shrine honoring 2.5 million Japanese war
dead, including a dozen World War II criminals, for five consecutive years since
he came to power in 2001.
Koizumi's action has seriously hurt the feelings of the people of the then
war-torn countries in Asia, including China and South Korea, and badly damaged
Japan's ties with its neighbors.
Reciprocal visits between the Chinese and Japanese leaders have been absent
for four years and this is abnormal for two countries with frequent economic
exchanges.
Even worse, Koizumi's obstinacy on the issue of shrine visits has brought all
scheduled meetings to a halt, even on international occasions, including the
postponed meeting among Chinese, Japanese and South Korean leaders on the
sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) conference in
Kuala Lumpur this month.
Thus, the Sino-Japanese political relationship has been at a low ebb over the
years. And Koizumi should be held accountable for this.
Koizumi's shrine tours have had dire political consequences as they have
become a tremendous obstacle to the development of Sino-Japanese friendship and
cooperation.
Only when the Japanese leaders take a correct attitude toward the country's
history of aggression and express apology and remorse for Japan's war past, can
the impasse be broken.
However, the Japanese leaders have been trying to justify the shrine visits.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso has claimed that "the only countries in
the world that talk about Yasukuni are China and South Korea" and Japan does not
have to heed their calls.
Koizumi described the issue as "an invalid diplomatic card" wielded by China
and South Korea when giving his explanation for the delay of the trilateral
meeting.
The remarks by the Japanese leaders showed that they did not want to solve
the problem and they had no respect for China and South Korea. Such an attitude
has dampened the hope that the freezing Sino-Japanese relationship would thaw in
the near future.
It is widely known that the Chinese and Japanese people are looking forward
to common development and prosperity.
However, Koizumi's visits to the shrine have strained political relations,
reduced mutual trust, intensified antagonism and put the two countries at odds.
The situation has aroused concerns among the people in both countries.
The tension between the two countries not only hampers economic exchanges, it
may also affect regional stability and development, analysts said.
Trade and economic cooperation between China and Japan have already been
negatively affected by their tense political relationship, which has started
cooling down extensive business activities between the two sides.
Japan's 11-year-old status as the largest trading partner of China has been
taken over by the European Union.
In the first eight months of 2005, Sino-Japanese trade increased only by 10.3
percent, compared with the 23.5-percent growth achieved by China globally,
according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
The trade with Japan accounted for 14.5 percent of China's total foreign
trade volume in 2004, down from the 17.5 percent in 2000, the ministry said.
As close neighbors with their economies remarkably complementary to each
other, China and Japan are regrettably seeing their economic cooperation growing
at a slower pace.
At the same time, the cold political ties hinder bilateral cooperation on
large-scale economic projects.
Economists have warned that it is hard to maintain the flourishing economic
relations between China and Japan as long as their political discord remains
unsettled.
In order to put the Sino-Japanese relationship back on to the normal track,
more joint efforts are needed to address the shrine issue, particularly positive
actions by the Japanese leaders.
China and Japan need to conduct strategic dialogues and coordinate their
positions on a wide range of issues, such as the environment, energy and
security.
Koizumi's visits to the shrine are preventing the two sides from fully
playing their roles in jointly dealing with international affairs. Japanese
leaders should be aware of this.
Nevertheless, the Japanese prime minister has shown no sign of budging on the
issue. His persistent visits to the war shrine have manifested his intent to
distort history and glorify militarism. It is hoped that Japanese leaders would
not further follow the wrong path and go down in Japan's modern history as
people who have soured relations with neighboring countries.
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