German Chancellor: Japan needs honesty to improve relations with victims of World War II

 

Angela Merkel: I think history and experience tell us also that peaceful means of reconciliation have to be found

TOKYO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel waded into the fraught area of wartime forgiveness during a visit to Japan, saying that “facing history squarely” and “generous gestures” are necessary to mend ties.

Merkel was speaking in Tokyo on March 9 2015 ahead of the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II, in which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative views on Tokyo’s war crimes are under scrutiny, and as China and South Korea continue to call for more contrition.

“Germany was lucky to be accepted into the community of nations after the horrible experience the world had to meet with Germany during the period of National Socialism (Nazism) and the Holocaust,” she said.

“This was possible first because Germany did face its past squarely, but also because the Allied Powers who controlled Germany after WWII would attach great importance to Germany coming to grips with its past.

“One of the great achievements of the time certainly was reconciliation between Germany and France ... the French have given just as valuable a contribution as the Germans have.”

Relations between Japan and its wartime victims China and South Korea are at a low point, with Beijing and Seoul both calling for Tokyo to do more to atone for its past.

Nationalists in Japan say Tokyo has apologised enough and that the constant references to WWII are covering flak for governments in China and South Korea seeking to direct popular anger elsewhere.

There were “great minds and great personalities who said we ought to adopt a policy of rapprochement ... and without these generous gestures by our neighbours this would not have been possible,” Merkel told her audience.

The public lecture came on the first day of a two-day trip to Tokyo, her first in seven years.

Abe visited Germany last year.

China’s foreign minister Wang Yi on Sunday said Abe would be welcome at Beijing’s commemorations of the end of WWII if he was “sincere” about history.

Beijing has not given a specific date for the parade but it regards Sept 3, the day after Japan signed its formal surrender to Allied forces on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, as victory day.

“It’s difficult for me as the German chancellor to give you advice on how to deal with part of your neighbourhood. But I think history and experience tell us also that peaceful means of reconciliation have to be found,” Merkel said in response to questions.

Merkel’s visit to Japan is part of her swing through G7 member nations before Germany hosts the group’s next summit in June. She has already visited the other five nations.

The visit, her third to Japan in almost 10 years in office, is seen as a balancing act between Germany’s ties with Beijing and Tokyo. She has been to China seven times during the same period.

Thanking Japan for joining Western powers in imposing sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine, Merkel said: “Japan and Germany share common interests whenever the strengthening of the international rule of law is to be brought about.” — AFP

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Nanjing Massacre is undeniable! Remember it to better embrace peace

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, attend a state commemoration for China's first National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 13, 2014. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)



Full Video: State memorial ceremony for Nanjing Massacre victims

China observed the first National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims on Saturday. It is a day to reflect on the past and look forward to the future, and a day to make people more aware of the significance of peace.

Invading Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then the capital of China, on Dec. 13, 1937 and started a bloody campaign lasting more than 40 days. More than 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers were killed and about 20,000 women were raped.

Seventy-seven years later, the deep wound may be healed, but the scar has always been there. Chinese people cannot and should not forget those dark and miserable moments in their history.

That is why in February, China's top legislature decided to designate Dec. 13 as the National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims, along with Victory Day of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression on Sept. 3.

The memorial day is no different from how Americans remember the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Allies mark the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

Observing the day is of great significance, especially as some people in Japan, which committed the brutal crime, are still trying to deny the facts. It urges Japanese right-wingers to stop distorting the country's history of aggression.

History will not change due to the changing times. Facts will not disappear because of clever denial.

The remembrance of the massacre victims is a warning to the world about the brutality and destructivity of war. Peace cannot be achieved and maintained by a single party. What Japan should do is reflect on its history of aggression, correct its mistakes and change its course.

The day is meant to remind the Chinese people and all peace-loving people around the world to be cautious about Japan's history of militarist aggression and safeguard the WWII victory and post-war international order.

Overcoming one and a half centuries of humiliation by invaders dating back to the Opium War (1840-1842), China is sober-minded that it must become stronger through remembrance of the massacre victims in order to avoid stepping on the old path.

People who experienced the torment of war are deeply eager for peace. The Nanjing homage day also gives China determination to pursue the road of peaceful development and contribute to, rather than threaten, regional and world peace.

The Chinese remember history not out of hatred, but of love -- the love of peace, and love for humanity.

Source:Xinhua Published: 2014

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President Xi addresses state memorial ceremony for Nanjing Massacre victims

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses a state commemoration for China's first National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Dec. 13, 2014. A state commemoration for China's first National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims was held here on Saturday.

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China on Saturday marked the day when 77 years ago invading Japanese soldiers slaughtered more than 300,000 people, mostly unresisting civilians.

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China's State Archives Administration has published the transcript of a court verdict against a Japanese Major General who was involved in the Nanjing Massacre.

Major-General Sasaki Toichi is widely recognized as having overseen some of the worst atrocities that took place under his command. According to the verdict, his unit committed atrocities of unparalleled brutality and violence. They included mass murder, gang rapes, beheadings, burning and burying people alive, looting and wanton destruction.

His unit alone killed over 100,000 victims, one third of the total. Today’s publication is the latest in a series of releases by the archive, aimed at heightening awareness of the massacre, in the run-up to today’s memorial events.

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9/3, China's Victory Day over Japan

China's top leaders Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli present flower baskets to martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the Anti-Japanese War during a ceremony marking the 69th anniversary of Victory Day in the war at the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 3, 2014. (Xinhua/Wang Ye) 

Chinese leaders mark anti-Japanese war victory day - CCTV News - http://CCTV.com  English http://english.cntv.cn/2014/09/03/VIDE1409753999249717.shtml#.VAhL3FvNVeo.twitter …

Studio interview: China-Japan ties frayed by Tokyo's attitude on war crimes

For more analysis, let’s bring in our studio guest Victor Gao, Current Affairs Commentator. Video: http://t.cn/RhUOWHx

Tokyo lost the war, and must accept defeat

Wednesday marks the 69th anniversary of China's victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). It is a day of solemnity that will remind us of myriad feelings. A multitude of people will commemorate the war at many events along with numerous reflections and summarizations that are becoming clearer as time passes.

The war of resistance is unforgettable for China and the Chinese people, not only because it was a brutal war which claimed tens of millions of lives, but also due to the cruel fact that the invader is a much smaller country across the sea. It is memorable also because Japan, the aggressor, has continued to make provocative actions toward China and South Korea despite its Waterloo in WWII.

China had weathered various hardships and witnessed declining national strength in its modern history, but the aggression of Japanese militarists became the peak in the tragedy of modern times in China. In concerted efforts, China and international anti-fascist forces defeated Japan. However, Japanese people have refused to view China as a true victor. They respect the US and the former Soviet Union but always give the cold shoulder to China and South Korea by ignoring all their requirements surrounding WWII. To continue our victory in the ruthless world war to the end, we need to completely overturn the understanding of Japanese society toward China since the Meiji Restoration in 1868. We should try to gain overwhelming advantages over Japan in major areas. Tokyo only shows respect to countries that have once heavily struck it or possess much greater strategic ability. This has been fully demonstrated by its docility under Washington's military occupation till now and its willingness to be students in front of modern European civilization and the ancient Chinese civilization of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

During the past 69 years since the war's end, China has undergone vicissitudes and seen a historical reversal in its power balance with Japan. China has become the most powerful nation in Asia again. Nevertheless, Japan still boasts core advantages like advanced technology. Therefore, it has developed both a sense of crisis and a superiority complex toward China. The present day is witnessing a fierce geopolitical competition.

China and Japan will embark on the road of friendship eventually, which, however, will be peaceful and stable only when China overwhelms Japan in national strength. What we need is a rational Japan that behaves itself and stops serving as a pawn of the US to sabotage China's strategic interests. We need to crush Japan's will to constrain a rising Beijing and only in this way can Sino-Japanese friendship garner a fresh, solid foundation.

Source:Global Times Published: 2014-9-3 0:28:02

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Japan unveils new warship 'Izumo', a destroyer/copter carrier on atomic bombing anniversary

 
Japan's newest warship is covered with decoration tape and confetti as it is pictured during a launch ceremony in Yokohama on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

It's being called a destroyer, or perhaps a helicopter carrier. But by any name, Japan's new warship, unveiled Tuesday, is the largest it has built since World War II. The ship was shown to the public on the anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and at a time of escalating tensions with China.

China on Tuesday called on Japan to abide by its policy of peaceful development and warned against its military expansion after Tokyo unveiled its biggest warship since World War II on the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.



"We are concerned over Japan's constant expansion of its military equipment. Japan's Asian neighbors and the international community need to be highly vigilant about this trend," the Chinese defense ministry told the Global Times.

"Japan should learn from history, adhere to its policy of self-defense and abide by its promise to take the road of peaceful development," it said.

Japan on Tuesday held a ceremony in the port city of Yokohama to launch the country's new-generation 22DDH-class helicopter carrier.

With a length of 248 meters, the $1.14 billion carrier, named Izumo, has a full load displacement of 27,000 tons, with its flight deck being able to carry up to 14 helicopters.

The Izumo, scheduled to enter service in March 2015, is the third helicopter carrier to be used by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. But the new warship marks a major improvement in size and capability as it is almost 50 percent larger than the current Hyuga-class carriers.

The Japanese-built carrier could play a major role in disaster and rescue missions, as well as defending sea lanes and sovereignty claims, the Japanese defense ministry has said.

The launch of the warship came as Japan is embroiled in an island dispute with China in the East China Sea and the Japanese government is mulling a change of interpretation to Japan's pacifist constitution to grant its military a bigger role.

Li Daguang, a professor at the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, told the Global Times that Japan's 22DDH helicopter carrier is actually capable of conducting military operations as an aircraft carrier, but due to restraints by the country's constitution, Japan is unable to equip it with fighter jets.

Japan was defeated in World War II and according to its post-war constitution, it is not allowed to possess offensive weaponry, such as nuclear submarines or aircraft carriers.

"But since it still carries large numbers of advanced attack and anti-submarine helicopters and other weapons, the vessel can still be seen as an aircraft carrier in disguise," Li noted.

Li said the Izumo could significantly improve the combat capability of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and could potentially change the power balance between China and Japan's naval forces.

"Japan tops the world in terms of its anti-submarine capability and the warship would further consolidate its advantage," he said.

China inaugurated its first aircraft carrier, the approximately 300-meter long Liaoning, in September 2012. It was built around a Soviet-era hull and can carry an estimated 50 fighter jets.

But Li said that the two vessels cannot be compared. "The Liaoning was mainly built for training purposes while the Izumo was built for a real war."

Japan's military right-wing shift is the natural result of the country's political right-wing shift, said Liu Jiangyong, deputy head of the Institute of Modern International Relations at Tsinghua University.

He told the Global Times that the launch of the new warship, a de facto aircraft carrier, without the approval of the Japanese Diet is an effort by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government to break the limits of its peaceful constitution.

"Tokyo wanted to use such an established fact to tell the Japanese public that Japan's constitution has in reality been revised," he added.

In addition to Japan's military buildup, neighboring countries are also concerned about Tokyo's attitude toward its militaristic past.

Abe on Tuesday declined to confirm whether he will visit the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender during the World War II, but said his cabinet ministers are free to go.

"I will not respond whether I will visit. Whether cabinet ministers will visit in their private capacity is an issue of their belief. So they are free" to go, he was quoted by Japan's Kyodo News as saying. "I will not request my ministers to visit or not to visit [the shrine]. I should not do that."

Government and ruling party sources told Kyodo last week that Abe would not visit Yasukuni on the anniversary to refrain from worsening Japan's relations with China and South Korea.

AFP contributed to this story

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Japan's smear campaign, trade bards with China over radar incident near disputed isles

Beijing accused Tokyo Thursday of mounting a smear campaign after Japan said a Chinese frigate had locked its weapons-targeting radar on a Japanese warship in a “threat of force.”

 Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Yuudachi is seen in this undated handout photo released by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and obtained by Reuters on February 5, 2013. A Chinese vessel pointed a type of radar normally used to help guide missiles at a Japanese navy ship near disputed East China Sea islets, prompting the Japanese government to lodge a protest with China. Image by: HANDOUT / REUTERS

The world’s second- and third-largest economies are at loggerheads over uninhabited Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea, known as Senkaku in Tokyo and Diaoyu by Beijing, which claims them.

The radar incident, which Japan said happened last week, marked the first time the two nations’ navies have locked horns in a dispute that has some commentators warning about a possible armed conflict.

Asked to respond to Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera’s description of the radar targeting as a “threat of force”, Beijing foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: “Recently Japan has been hyping up crisis and deliberately creating tension to smear China’s image.

“This move is counter to the improvement of relations,” she told a regular briefing.

“The current problem is not China being assertive but about Japanese ships’ and airplanes’ repeated illegal activities in the airspace and waters of the Diaoyu islands, which undermine China’s territorial sovereignty.”

The long-running row over the islands intensified in September when Tokyo nationalised part of the chain, triggering fury in Beijing and huge anti-Japan demonstrations across China.

Beijing has repeatedly sent ships and aircraft near the islands and both sides have scrambled fighter jets, though there have been no clashes.

Play Video

The Chinese Defense Ministry has denied that a Chinese navy vessel aimed weapon-targeting radar at a Japanese navy ship in the East China Sea. It’s also called on Japan to stop violating China’s territorial sovereignty.



The Ministry says the vessel was conducting normal training on January 30th, when it detected a Japanese naval ship following it. The Chinese vessel used normal radar to monitor, contrary to Japanese claims.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry also says Japan is provoking tension over the Diaoyu islands by intentionally stirring up a crisis. It says Japan is continuously sending its ships and aircraft into the waters and airspace around the Diaoyu Islands to carry out illegal activities.

China and Japan engaged on Friday in a fresh round of invective over military movements near a disputed group of uninhabited islands, fueling tensions that for months have bedevilled relations between the two major Asian powers.

China’s defense ministry rejected a Japanese allegation that a naval vessel had aimed a weapons-targeting radar at a Japanese military ship in the East China Sea, its first comment on the week-old incident. It said Japan’s intrusive tracking of Chinese vessels was the “root cause” of the renewed tension.

A Japanese official on Friday dismissed the Chinese explanation for the Jan 30 incident. He said Beijing’s actions could precipitate a dangerous situation in waters around the islets, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, believed to be rich in oil and gas.

China’s defense ministry, in a faxed statement issued late on Thursday, said Japan’s remarks “do not match the facts”. The Chinese ship’s radar, it said, had maintained regular alerting operations and “did not use fire control radar.”

The ministry said the Chinese ship was tracked by a Japanese destroyer during routine training exercises. Fire control radar pinpoints the location of a target for missiles or shells and its use can be considered a step short of actual firing.

Japan, it said, had recently “made irresponsible remarks that hyped up the so-called ‘China threat’, recklessly created tension and misled international public opinion.

“In recent years, Japanese warships and airplanes have often conducted long periods of close-range tracking and surveillance of China’s naval ships and airplanes. This is the root cause of air and maritime security issues between China and Japan.”

In Tokyo, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference on Friday: “We cannot accept China’s explanation.”

Japan’s allegations, he said, had been “a result of our defense ministry’s careful and detailed analysis. We urge China to take sincere measures to prevent dangerous actions which could cause a contingency situation.”

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said this week that the incident could have become very dangerous very quickly, and that use of the radar could be seen as a threat of military force under U.N. rules.

Hopes have been rising in recent weeks for a thaw in ties after months of tension, sparked, in part, by Japan’s nationalisation of three of the privately owned islets last September.

Fears that encounters between aircraft and ships could degenerate into an accidental clash have given impetus to efforts to improve links, including a possible summit between Abe and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who takes over as head of state in March.

China’s premier-in-waiting Li Keqiang, meanwhile, urged marine surveillance staff on Thursday to intensify law enforcement in China’s sea territories, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

“Supervising and governing seas under the jurisdiction of China is the main responsibility of Chinese marine surveillance staff,” Li, who is expected to take over as China’s premier next month, was quoted as saying.

It is believed the island chain—which is also claimed by Taiwan (a province of China)

Sources: AFP/Japan Todayh/Reauters/CCTV

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China’s Ministry of National Defense has denounced Japanese military aircraft disrupting the routine patrols of Chinese administrative aircraft.

At a press conference, an official with the ministry confirmed that China sent two J-10 fighters to the East China Sea, after a Y-8 aircraft was closely followed by two Japanese F-15 fighters. The Y-8 aircraft was patrolling the southwest airspace of the East China Sea oil platform on Thursday.

According to the official, the two J-10 fighters were sent to monitor the Japanese fighter jets tailing the Y-8 as well as another Japanese reconnaissance plane spotted in the same airspace. The official said Japanese military aircraft have been increasingly active in closely scouting Chinese aircraft.

The official said the Chinese military will be on high alert and China will resolutely protect the security of its air defense force and uphold its legitimate rights. The official also called for the Japanese side to respect relevant international laws and to prevent security disputes by taking effective measures.

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Japanese military aircraft disrupting the routine patrols of Chinese administrative aircraft

At a press conference, an official with the ministry confirmed that China sent two J-10 fighters to the East China Sea after a Y-8 aircraft was closely followed by two Japanese F-15 fighters as it patrolled the southwest airspace of the East China Sea oil platform on Thursday. Full story >>

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 Japan tracer bullets will bring war closer

According to Japanese media, the Japanese government is considering permitting Japanese self-defense forces' fighter jets to fire tracer bullets as warning shots against Chinese surveillance planes which have "infringed" upon Japan's "territorial airspace" over the Diaoyu Islands.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday that China has consistently opposed Japan's infringement upon China's sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands. China "remains vigilant against attempts to escalate the tensions."

The Chinese spokesman's statement is not enough to express the Chinese people's strong determination to fight back against Japan's unscrupulous action.

We believe that if Japan starts using tracer bullets, it will definitely trigger a military confrontation between China and Japan. Chinese people will certainly ask the government to send naval and air forces to retaliate.

Tracer bullets were used by Japan to warn Soviet Union surveillance aircraft above the Okinawa Prefecture in 1987. However, the relationship between the Soviet Union and Japan was one of war and invasion. The Diaoyu Islands are a typical disputed area.

We believe that China is carefully assessing plans to deploy combat aircraft to the Diaoyu Islands due to the imbalance between China's surveillance aircraft and Japan's fighter jets. If Japan uses tracer bullets, Chinese fighter jets are bound to be sent to the Diaoyu Islands.

China's replacing surveillance aircraft with fighter jets does not mean they will conduct military operations there. These are upgrades of China's ability to defend its sovereignty in the face of Japan's provocations. All of East Asia would face tension in that scenario, but we have no choice. We do not wish to begin a war with Japan. However, if Japan insists on provocations, we will follow it through to the end.

If the Chinese government does not earnestly prepare for it, it will certainly suffer huge political losses. The public wouldn't understand that and they would not accept any interpretations by the government.

China may fall into military conflict with Japan eventually. We hope we can continue our peaceful development, but our risk management strategies are more complex due to various pressures.

There is little room for concessions. Therefore, let us abandon all hesitation and seriously prepare for mutual warnings and confrontation with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands. If the situation goes awry, we must make Japan pay more of a price than China.

The Diaoyu Islands dispute will test the Chinese government's leadership for a long time. But we should have confidence: our rival is a bully which can even bear US military occupation. As long as we keep tough, we will not lose this test of wills. - Global Times



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Japan compensated RM207 billion to Malaysia?

PETALING JAYA: Japan never paid RM207bil to the Malaysian Government as compensation for victims of the Death Railway project in the 1940s, according to the Japanese Embassy.

Its Second Secretary Takaharu Suegami, responding to PAS working committee member Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin who was reported to have said so, said the latter's claim was “outside the involvement and knowledge of the Government of Japan”.

“All questions arising out of the unhappy events with regard to Malaysia have been fully and finally settled under the San Francisco Treaty which entered into force in 1952,” he said in a statement yesterday. Nizar was quoted by Harakah Daily as saying that the embassy had confirmed that the money was handed to the Malaysian Government in 2004.

The report stated that the money had yet to be distributed to families of the estimated 30,000 Malaysians who were forced labourers of the project between 1942 and 1946.

Suegami said both countries had also signed an agreement on Sept 21, 1967, whereby Japan agreed to supply services and products to Malaysia totalling RM25mil.

The grants, he said, had been used to build two ships, among other projects, but there was no transfer of an undisclosed amount of money.

“Malaysia agreed that any question from the events of the Second World War that might affect our good bilateral relations would be fully and finally settled with the agreement.

“All the supply in accordance with the agreement was completed by May 6, 1972,” he said.

- The Star/Asian News Network

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Japan ministers visit Tokyo war shrine amid anger from China, S Korea

Japan's transport minister Yuichiro Hata (centre) and other lawmakers visit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Thursday. Photo: AFP



67 Japanese lawmakers, including two cabinet ministers, have visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

The two cabinet members were Japanese Transport Minister, Yuichiro Hata, and Postal Minister, Mikio Shimoji. Their visit came a day after opposition leader Shinzo Abe’s visit to the shrine. The Yasukuni Shrine honours 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including 14 leading World War Two war criminals.

The shrine is seen as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism by its Asian neighbours including China and South Korea, who have condemned the Japanese politicians’ visit. China’s Foreign Ministry called on Japan to face up to the international community.

Hong Lei, Spokesman of Chinese Foreign Ministry, said, "China’s position on this issue has been clear-cut and consistent: we urge the Japanese side to reflect upon history and strictly abide by its solemn statements and pledges regarding historical issues, and face the international community in a responsible manner."

Two Japanese ministers were part of a cross-party group of lawmakers who visited a controversial Tokyo war shrine on Thursday, the day after opposition leader Shinzo Abe angered China and South Korea by paying homage there.

Dozens of parliamentarians were at Yasukuni Shrine as part of celebrations for Japan’s autumn festival.

Among the lawmakers were transport minister Yuichiro Hata of the ruling Democratic Party (DPJ) and postal reform minister Mikio Shimoji of DPJ’s junior coalition partner, People’s New Party, local media said.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has stayed away from the shrine and previously told his cabinet to do the same.

Opposition leader Shinzo Abe, a man well-placed to become Japan’s next prime minister, was at the Shinto shrine Wednesday, prompting criticism from China and South Korea.

China’s state media there said Abe’s visit would “further poison bilateral ties”.

“At such a delicate moment, Abe’s visit... has added insult to injury and dealt another blow to the already fragile Sino-Japanese relations,” the Xinhua news agency said.

“Provocative and short-sighted actions would harm the interests of Japan and its people,” it said, noting that already the “strained political ties have produced serious economic fallout for both sides”.

A South Korean foreign ministry spokesman expressed “deep regret and concern” that such a senior political leader and former prime minister saw fit to visit “a symbol of the Japanese war of aggression and militarism”.

Japan has spent the last few months at loggerheads with China over a group of islands in the East China Sea, and it is engaged in a propaganda war with South Korea over a long-standing territorial dispute involving a set of isolated islands.

Japan’s colonial rule over Korea from 1910 to 1945 is still a source of bitter resentment among older generations and Abe, who was elected president of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party last month, is already an unpopular figure here.

As prime minister in 2007, he enraged South Koreans by denying the Japanese military’s direct involvement in forcing women, many from the Korean peninsula, into sexual slavery during World War II.

The Shinto shrine in central Tokyo honours 2.5 million war dead, including 14 convicted Class A war criminals from World War II.

Visits to the shrine by government ministers and high-profile figures spark outrage in China and on the Korean peninsula, where many feel Japan has failed to atone for its brutal aggression in the first half of the 20th century.

Yasukuni Shrine

Yasukuni Shrine, located in Tokyo, Japan, is dedicted to over 2,466,000 Japanese soldiers and servicemen who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan in the last 150 years. It also houses one of the few Japanese war museums dedicated to World War II.The shrine is at the center of an international  controversy by honoring war criminals convicted by a post World War II court including 14 'Class A' war criminals. Japanese politicans, including prime ministers and cabinet members have paid visits to Yasukuni Shrine in recent years which caused criticism and protests from China, Korea, and Taiwan.

On August 15, the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in the second world war, two ministers – Hata and Jin Matsubara, the minister in charge of the issue of Japanese kidnapped by North Korea – visited Yasukuni.

By Agence France-Presse in Tokyo