Tensions rise as China, S. Korea slam Japan on war anniversary
Source: Agencies |
August 16, 2012, Thursday
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TENSION between Japan and its Asian neighbors escalated yesterday, the 67th anniversary of the end of World War II, as South Korea and China both told Tokyo to do much more to resolve lingering bitterness over its past military aggression.
Despite close economic ties in one of the world's wealthiest regions, memories of Japan's wartime occupation of much of China and colonization of South Korea run deep in the two countries.
But South Korea prompted an official protest from Japan after comments by President Lee Myung-bak which some saw as going too far by insulting Japanese Emperor Akihito. Adding to the tension and underscoring how history haunts Tokyo's ties with Beijing and Seoul, two Japanese Cabinet ministers paid homage at a Tokyo shrine for war dead, including Class-A Japanese World War II criminals.
The rows in part reflect scepticism over the sincerity of Japan's apologies for wartime and colonial excesses.
On Tuesday, Lee told a group of teachers that Akihito should apologize sincerely if he wants to visit South Korea, saying a repeat of his 1990 expression of "deepest regrets" would not suffice.
Japan's Foreign Ministry said it had lodged a protest with Seoul over the remarks about Akihito, who has spend much of the past two decades trying to heal the wounds of a war waged across Asia in his father's name.
Lee, whose visit last Friday to an island claimed by both Seoul and Tokyo frayed ties, called Japan an "important partner that we should work with to open the future." But in remarks commemorating Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-1945 rule, he also said the countries' tangled history was "hampering the common march toward a better tomorrow."
National Public Safety Commission Chairman Jin Matsubara and Transport Minister Yuichiro Hata visited the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, defying Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's pleas.
Many see the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism because 14 Japanese war criminals convicted by International Military Tribunal for Far East are honored there with Japan's other war dead.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Japan should reflect upon why such visits upset the rest of Asia.
"The essence of the Yasukuni Shrine issue is whether or not Japan can properly recognize and deal with its past history of militarism and invasion, and whether or not it can respect the feelings of its Asian victims, including those in China."
Despite close economic ties in one of the world's wealthiest regions, memories of Japan's wartime occupation of much of China and colonization of South Korea run deep in the two countries.
But South Korea prompted an official protest from Japan after comments by President Lee Myung-bak which some saw as going too far by insulting Japanese Emperor Akihito. Adding to the tension and underscoring how history haunts Tokyo's ties with Beijing and Seoul, two Japanese Cabinet ministers paid homage at a Tokyo shrine for war dead, including Class-A Japanese World War II criminals.
The rows in part reflect scepticism over the sincerity of Japan's apologies for wartime and colonial excesses.
On Tuesday, Lee told a group of teachers that Akihito should apologize sincerely if he wants to visit South Korea, saying a repeat of his 1990 expression of "deepest regrets" would not suffice.
Japan's Foreign Ministry said it had lodged a protest with Seoul over the remarks about Akihito, who has spend much of the past two decades trying to heal the wounds of a war waged across Asia in his father's name.
Lee, whose visit last Friday to an island claimed by both Seoul and Tokyo frayed ties, called Japan an "important partner that we should work with to open the future." But in remarks commemorating Korea's liberation from Japan's 1910-1945 rule, he also said the countries' tangled history was "hampering the common march toward a better tomorrow."
National Public Safety Commission Chairman Jin Matsubara and Transport Minister Yuichiro Hata visited the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, defying Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's pleas.
Many see the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism because 14 Japanese war criminals convicted by International Military Tribunal for Far East are honored there with Japan's other war dead.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Japan should reflect upon why such visits upset the rest of Asia.
"The essence of the Yasukuni Shrine issue is whether or not Japan can properly recognize and deal with its past history of militarism and invasion, and whether or not it can respect the feelings of its Asian victims, including those in China."
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