TOKYO
— Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday that he wants to
explain to leaders in China and South Korea about his visits to the
Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors the country’s war dead, but
Beijing again called on him to correct his views on Japan’s role in
World War II.
Abe said that Japan has not made any direct overtures, but he hopes the
leaders can meet to help resolve antagonism over territorial disputes
and historical issues.
“At the moment, there is no plan for a summit meeting, but since there
are some difficulties and issues we should be speaking together without
setting any preconditions,” he told reporters after making a new year’s
visit to the Grand Shrine of Ise, in western Japan.
“I would really like to explain the intent of my visits to the Yasukuni
Shrine directly to them,” Abe said. “We are not making any direct
approach on this, but the door to dialogue is open. I would like to hold
Japan-China and Japan-South Korea summit meetings.”
Japan colonized Korea and occupied parts of China before and during
World War II and that often brutal legacy taints relations with its
neighbors decades later. China and South Korea reacted angrily to Abe’s
Dec. 26 visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where 14 class A war
criminals are enshrined among the 2.5 million war dead.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry has said earlier Abe won’t be welcome in Beijing until he admits his mistake.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that
to improve relations with Beijing, Abe “needs to correctly view and
deeply reflect on the Japan’s militarist history of external invasion
and colonialism, show sincerity and make concrete efforts to improve
ties with neighboring countries.”
“Judging from his moves, Prime Minister Abe is hypocritical when he pays
lip-service to improving relations with China. It is he himself who
closed the door to dialogue with China,” she said in a daily briefing.
South Korean President Park Geun-hye blamed Tokyo for the strained ties,
and said that any summit with Abe could be held only after sufficient
preparations.
“I have never said I won’t have the Korea-Japan summit talks. But I
think the ... talks must bring out results that are helpful for the
development of ties between the two countries so there should be
sufficient preparations” for the summit, Park said.
Abe has said Japan should never wage war again, though he favors
strengthening the military and revising the country’s pacifist
constitution. That agenda is popular with some Japanese, though polls
show the majority are more concerned about the economy.
“I am confident that we can gain understanding ... if we firmly explain the Abe administration’s pro-active pacifism,” he said.
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