Is spring thaw in East Asia imminent?

It was not long ago that the relationship between the two Asian heavyweight countries had slipped to the lowest point in decades.

The reason was the former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi’s repeated visits to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni shrine, which honors 2.5 million war dead — including war criminals who were convicted of atrocities committed in China.

Koizumi regularly paid homage to the shrine during his five-year premiership, while his successor Shinzo Abe has thus far refrained from pilgrimages to the notorious shrine since taking office in September.

As a direct consequence of this apparent shift, Abe was welcomed in Beijing last October.

Wen said he wants to make his reciprocal visit on April 11-13 a “true ice-melting trip.” Besides Abe, he is also expected to meet with Emperor Akihito and is slated to be the first Chinese leader to deliver a speech before Japan’s parliament.

Abe’s visit to Beijing was considered a U-turn for the bilateral relationship, and the signs are now hinting at a thawing in East Asia.

The two sides are expected to draft a document to assert their “mutual respect” to create a “strategic relationship of bilateral usefulness.”

That, of course, does not mean that all differences between the two countries have been set aside.

They will address their resilient tug-of-war over oil fields in the East China Sea, having agreed in October to work towards a joint development.

China also insists that Tokyo abide by its one-China policy regarding the Taiwan. Beijing is upset that both Japan and the United States have recently redefined the peaceful solution of the Taiwan question as part of their security cooperation.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has threatened the island’s government repeatedly with war if Taiwan should formally declare its independence.

Japan, on the other hand, has so far failed to gain Beijing’s backing in its aspirations for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

Chinese experts, while recognizing the efforts by the Asian leaders to improve diplomatic relations, remain somewhat skeptical.

“Wen’s and Abe’s remarks indicate that the two governments have a very similar agenda,” the communist mouth piece “People’s Daily” quoted Jin Xide, a research fellow on Japanese studies at the China Academy of Social Sciences.

“However, since the political foundation, public sentiments and opinions on China-Japan relations are relatively fragile, it will be a long and difficult process to build this relationship,” Jin said.

Japan’s handling of its war past has been irksome to China. Abe recently triggered international criticism when he claimed no proof existed of the former Imperial Army’s involvement in the forced recruitment of sex slaves during World War II.

However, shortly after making that statement, Abe apologized.

His government adhered to the declaration of former government spokesman Yohei Kono in 1993, in which Japan admitted that the Imperial Army was indeed involved in the setup and maintenance of front-line brothels during the war, he said.

On one hand, Abe tries to gain domestic support on the right wing through nationalistic rhetoric, while on the other he strives to be seen internationally as a pragmatic statesman.

Many Japanese conservatives are disappointed by Abe’s readiness to compromise, and were not pleased with his visits to China and South Korea immediately after he had assumed office.

So far, China has reacted rather cautiously to Abe’s handling of the sex-slaves issue, and refrained from criticizing him personally in order to avoid jeopardizing the rapprochement.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing called the conscripting of “comfort women” one of the serious crimes committed by Japan during World War II, and emphasized that it was a “historical fact.”

However, Beijing has made crystal clear its point that it will not abide any future pilgrimages to the Yasukuni Shrine.

“The shrine visits by individual Japanese leaders over the past few years deeply hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and seriously undermined China-Japan ties,” Wen said.

“I hope this will never happen again.”

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email