Print

Mail

wiki links

Abe asks China to come clean on military budget

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on China to explain its swelling defense budget on Friday, days before Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) was set to arrive on an ice-breaking visit.

Speaking in an interview with CCTV of China ahead of Wen's visit starting on Wednesday, Abe urged transparency on China's defense spending in order to lessen perception of Beijing as a threat.

He also maintained his ambiguous stance on visits to a Tokyo war shrine that many in China and other parts of Asia see as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, a Japanese official said.

"China has increased its defense spending by a double digit percentage for 19 straight years. There is a perception that there is not enough transparency," the official quoted Abe as saying in the interview. "If China explains its actions, fewer and fewer people will see it as a threat," he added.

A defense dialogue between the two countries would also help to dispel suspicion, the official quoted Abe as saying.

Last month China announced a 17.8 percent rise in its official defense budget, and officials in both Washington and Tokyo have often criticized Beijing for a lack of transparency on the issue.

Abe gained plaudits for visiting China and South Korea within weeks of taking office last September in an effort to mend ties that had been damaged by visits by his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, to the Yasukuni war shrine.

The shrine honors Japanese convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal after World War II alongside millions of war dead.

Abe has refused to state whether he plans to visit the shrine and has said that he would not confirm any visits he may make.

Earlier this week Wen was reported as urging Japanese leaders to stay away from the shrine.

"I believe as Japanese prime minister I should always be humble about history," the official quoted Abe as telling CCTV.

In a separate interview with Phoenix TV of Hong Kong, he said on Yasukuni: "It is as I have said up until now. I want to maintain the feeling of mourning those who gave their lives for their country, but since this has become a diplomatic problem, I do not intend to say whether I will go or not."

Wen has spoken of his trip to Japan, the first by a Chinese premier in nearly seven years, as an opportunity to melt the ice broken during Abe's visit last year.

When asked in the interview whether he would accept a possible invitation to visit China again in the second half of this year, Abe said he would like to consider it.
This story has been viewed 1902 times.