Japan and China need to seek rapprochement
Japan yesterday marked the 58th anniversary of its second world war surrender. High-ranking government officials made their customary pilgrimage to the Yasukuni shrine, where the country's war dead are honoured. To the Japanese ministers who pay homage there, the shrine is a fitting memorial - even a place to remind themselves of the pledge that the country made at the end of the war to renounce all military aggression. But to many in neighbouring Asian countries, Yasukuni, which counts war criminals among those who are enshrined, continues to be a symbol of Japan's transgressions - and any official visits to it are seen as opportunities to remind Japan that amends have not been made to their satisfaction. Diplomatic ties, notably between Japan and China, continue to be influenced by this annual drama, with this year being no exception.
Before the anniversary, Japan's parliament, under the influence of conservatives in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, chose not to fund an alternative shrine, one that would not carry Yasukuni's symbolic baggage. On the mainland, a website opposed to awarding Japan a contract to build the high-speed rail line between Beijing and Shanghai because of its wartime history gathered 83,000 signatures. On another significant anniversary this week, marking 25 years since China and Japan signed a treaty of friendship and peace, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing asked Japanese officials not to visit Yasukuni. The request was ignored.
Though these events are proof of the gulf that exists on these sensitive issues, that difference is by no means unbridgeable. One indication of this is the Japanese response to the recent discovery of chemical weapons left behind in northeast China after the war. There were no defensive remarks or denials from Japan; instead, the country has sent investigators and discussed the question of reparations and compensation for those who have been injured. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has taken steps to appease critics of the Yasukuni visits. He has not gone to the shrine on August 15 for the past several years, instead choosing to make his once-a-year visit at a less sensitive time. His visit in January brought objections, but they were muted.
On the economic front, the interdependence between Japan and China is undeniable. China serves as a primary manufacturing base and export market for Japanese firms, while Japan is one of China's biggest trading partners. As Asia's largest economies, and as two of its most important political powers, it is in the interests of both to walk a path of rapprochement. The Yasukuni shrine and its role in the August 15 anniversary continue to be sensitive enough to keep China from extending a welcome mat for Mr Koizumi, but some day, perhaps soon, this will not be the case.