Talking about the current chilly
Sino-Japanese relations, its cause and the urgent task in
developing the relationship during his recent press conference,
Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao said the Sino-Japanese relationship indeed has run into
many difficulties, but it has nothing to do with China or the
Japanese people.
"It only has to do with the fact that the leader of Japan
continues to visit the shrine where the class-A war criminals are
honored. This has extremely offended the Chinese people and people
in the rest of Asia. Pending a solution to this issue, the
China-Japan relationship could hardly develop in a smooth
manner."
On the same day, commenting on Premier Wen's remarks, Japanese
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said to Japanese reporters that it
is a matter of his 'good will' to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, which
he does not believe to be crucial. He also said it should not
become a political issue or a diplomatic card.
However, inside stories leaked recently show that his 'good
will' is neither a common will nor insignificant, but is actually a
'political card' for Koizumi.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata once said, while he
was heading the "association of parliament members visiting the
Yasukuni Shrine", Koizumi never visited the shrine. But why did he
suddenly become the 'fan' of the shrine after he became the Prime
Minister?
Former Chief Cabinet Secretary and Secretary-General of the
Liberal Democratic Party hit the mark with a single comment:
promising to visit the Yasukuni Shrine on August 15 each year was a
'tactic' used by Koizumi to compete with Hashimoto for votes to
become the President of the Liberal Democratic Party.
It can be seen that Junichiro Koizumi's 'good will' when
campaigning for the President of the LDP in 2001 was to distinguish
himself by the promise to visit the shrine, dressing himself as the
"tough guy" who can say "no" to Asian neighbors and catering to the
right wing and extreme nationalists. Therefore, Koizumi's 'good
will' five years ago had already made his visits to the Shrine a
"political issue" and a "diplomatic card".
(People's Daily Online March 17, 2006)
