Opinion | China and US should work together to rein in Abe
Two sides share common ground after ill-timed shrine visit undercut Washington's 'pivot' to Asia
There is never a right time for a Japanese prime minister to visit the controversial Yasukuni war shrine because it honours, among 2.5 million Japanese war dead, 14 Class A war criminals from the second world war.
Such visits always provoke condemnations from China and South Korea - both victims of Japan's wartime atrocities - and often trigger political, diplomatic and economic instability.
But Shinzo Abe's Boxing Day trip, the first time a sitting prime minister has paid homage to the shrine since 2006, could not have come at a worse time. Ties between Japan, China and South Korea, the region's three main economies, have already been frayed by territorial disputes and Beijing's declaration of an air defence identification zone over most of the East China Sea.
The shrine trip has made the situation even worse, judging from the swift and strongly worded protests by Beijing and Seoul.
Some Japanese media reports suggested that Abe, who had expressed regret over not visiting the shrine during his first stint as prime minister seven years ago, went this time because he saw no chance for improved ties with Beijing and Seoul in the near future. So he chose to risk their anger now and try to repair the damage in the new year.
If this was indeed part of his thinking, Abe has miscalculated badly. Moreover, he is taking the serious risk of having Japan isolated in the international community.