Koizumi's Annoy Thy Neighbor China policy

[tidbits]

Only Koizumi cannot go to China

At the recent ASEAN summit in Bali, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi once again ignored a golden opportunity to mend fences with China. Instead of grasping a carefully outstretched Chinese hand, Koizumi made it crystal-clear that he intends to pursue his cavalier "annoy thy neighbor" policy.

At the heart of all Koizumi's China woes lies his highly publicized pilgrimages to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 high-ranking Japanese war criminals are enshrined along with the nation's war dead. Opinion surveys show that most Japanese do not approve of their prime minister's yearly jaunt to Yasukuni and realize it offends China. This makes Koizumi's undiplomatic actions even more difficult to justify.

Unless Koizumi sees the light, it will take years to undo the damage his premiership has caused.

[Taro Toporific]

Only Koizumi cannot go to China

19 lawmakers visit Yasukuni Shrine
Friday, October 17, 2003 at 12:49 JST / Kyodo
TOKYO-- A group of 19 lawmakers paid homage Friday at Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine for its annual autumn festival, but no cabinet members made the visit and the number of participants was one-third the usual number.
Makoto Koga, a former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secretary general who heads the Japan Association of Bereaved Families of the War Dead...
Dietman "Annoy Thy Neighbor" Koga

[ramchop]

Not really relevent, but I think it's a constructive way to look at things:

Vietnam has played down new reports of a massacre by US soldiers in the Vietnam War by saying it wants to put the conflict behind it.

Le Dung said Vietnam did not want to dwell on the past, and better bilateral relations were the best way to solve its consequences.

Will we have to wait for all of the survivors of WWII to be resting in their graves before China/Japan/Korea get their heads out of their arses and move on... or will it take a lot longer than that?

[Crispy]

Who in the government sees it as a good thing that Koizumi visits that shrine? Where did the idea come from?

[cstaylor]

If there was a substantial local political backlash to his visits, he wouldn't go. Obviously the majority of voters that contribute to his electoral successes have similar feelings.

That said, I don't seem him doing cosplay like the other loonies that show up there.