Abe fails to echo language of 1995 statement on Japan’s aggression
Print Edition
THE leaders of China and Japan yesterday met for only the second time since taking office, but the effort to repair badly damaged ties was marred after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier failed to apologize for Japan’s wartime aggression.
President Xi Jinping and Abe met on the sidelines of a summit in the Indonesian capital Jakarta for about 30 minutes.
Following the talks, Abe, whose strident nationalism has caused much friction with China, told reporters the leaders had a “very meaningful summit meeting” and that relations between China and Japan were improving.
Xi told Abe that he “hopes the Japanese side takes seriously the concerns of its Asian neighbors and issues a positive message of facing squarely up to history.”
Calling for a positive policy toward each other, Xi said China stands ready to enhance dialogue and communication with Japan to build up mutual trust and reduce doubts and take joint steps to make it a social consensus in both countries that “China and Japan are partners that do not impose a threat to each other.”
“China will firmly stick to the path of peaceful development,” the president said as he urged the Japanese side to work together with China to make more contributions to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world at large.
The two countries’ leaders should shoulder their responsibilities and duties, Xi said.
Memories of Japan’s past military aggression run deep in China, and Beijing has repeatedly urged Japan to face up to history.
Abe told Xi he would uphold past apologies including a 1995 landmark statement by then-premier Tomiichi Murayama, the Kyodo news agency reported.
However, despite his warm words after yesterday’s meeting, Abe had earlier in the day stoked fresh regional anger by stopping short of apologizing for Japan’s World War II rampage through Asia during a speech at gathering of Asian and African leaders..
He expressed “deep remorse” but did not make a “heartfelt apology” or refer to “colonial rule and aggression,” failing to echo the language of a landmark 1995 statement on Japanese wartime aggression.
At an Africa-Asia summit in Jakarta in 2005, then-Japanese leader Junichiro Koizumi used the phrasing that Abe omitted.
For China and South Korea, which suffered under the yoke of Japan’s imperial ambition, Abe’s language is a crucial marker of Tokyo’s acceptance of guilt for its invasion across Asia in the 1930s and 1940s which left millions dead.
Abe said in his speech that Japan had, “with feelings of deep remorse over the past war,” pledged to adhere to principles affirmed at the first Bandung Conference, including refraining from the use of force and settling international disputes by peaceful means.
The gathering marks the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, a meeting of Asian and African leaders opposed to colonialism.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the international community wants Japan “to squarely look at and reflect upon its history of aggression.”
“We hope Japan can go along with the call for justice from the world,” he said.
South Korea’s foreign ministry expressed “deep regret” at Abe’s omission of the key phrases.
His statements at the start of the two-day summit were potentially a bad omen for a statement he is due to make later this year marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Observers are waiting to see whether he will make direct reference to his country’s “colonial rule and aggression” and express remorse and apologize, as previous premiers did on the 50th and 60th anniversaries.
Abe suggested in a TV interview this week that he will not repeat a formal apology in the statement.
As well as the statement later this year, attention will also focus on Abe’s choice of words when he heads to the United States this weekend on a weeklong trip, during which he will address Congress.
Abe’s Jakarta speech came after he sent an offering to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Yesterday more than 100 Japanese lawmakers visited the shrine, prompting a protest by China’s foreign ministry.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
