4-22-09, 9:17 am
Original source: Global Times (China)
Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso sent an offering yesterday to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, which is seen by China and other neighboring countries as a symbol of the country's past militarism.
Aso made an offering of a potted sakaki plant, an evergreen also known as Cleyera japonica, to the shrine, which houses the memorial tablets to 14 top Japanese war criminals from World War II, according to Tokyo-based Kyodo News.
The Tokyo-headquartered Asahi Shimbun disclosed that Aso presented the plant, which cost him cost 50,000 yen (about $500) on his own initiative.
'The Yasukuni Shrine issue is one of the crucial and sensitive issues in the Sino-Japanese relationship,' China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular press conference yesterday.
'We hope Japan keeps its promise to overcome political obstacles and promote the healthy development of friendly cooperation between the two nations,' Jiang said.
The Republic of Korea's government also expressed 'deep regret' at Aso's actions.
'Although the hawkish Taro Aso values cooperation with China, he had to convey his affinity with domestic right-wing forces by presenting an evergreen plant to mark the start of the war shrine's three-day activities in the spring,' Su Hao, director of the Strategy and Conflict Management Research Center at China Foreign Affairs University, said.
'Because of the instability of Japan's political situation and the intense competition among different parties, Aso needs to balance both left and right domestic power to win the popularity rating,' said Feng Zhaokui, former deputy head of the Institute of Japan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Both Shinzo Abe and Fukuda Yasuo, Taro Aso's predecessors, had announced that they wouldn't visit the notorious Yasukuni Shrine.
'Any actions taken by Japanese government officials related to the Yasukumi Shrine are against the Japan's Constitution, which laid down rules separating religion from politics.' Feng said.
A number of Japanese mainstream media, such as Fuji Television and Jiji Press, have expressed their concern that such a defiant move may cloud the meeting between Chinese and Japanese leaders next week.
But an official from the Foreign Ministry of Japan told the Global Times that the Japanese government is not worried Aso's action would have detrimental effects on China-Japan ties.
Aso is scheduled to visit China, Japan's largest trading partner, between April 29 and 30, while Japan, the world's second largest economy, is struggling with the ongoing economic crisis.
'Japan is expecting more leniency from China to help it out of protracted economic stagnancy,' said Professor Zhang Lili, head of China Contemporary Diplomacy Research Center. But Zhang believes that Japan will continue to suffer a recession for a long period yet.
