Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday risked Chinese and South Korean ire by sending an offering to a controversial war shrine, and saying that he might not repeat a formal apology for the nation’s actions during World War II.
Abe, an unabashed nationalist, made a symbolic donation to the Yasukuni Shrine, the supposed repository of the nations’s war dead, including 30,304 Taiwanese soldiers killed in the war.
The gifting of a sakaki tree — sacred in Shintoism — appeared to indicate that Abe would not visit Yasukuni during the three-day spring festival, which began yesterday.
Nevertheless, Beijing and Seoul, which view the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s unrepentance over wartime wrongs, are likely to be angered by the offering at a time focus is increasingly on a statement Abe is due to make to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Observers are watching whether he makes direct reference to his nation’s “colonial rule and aggression” and express “remorse” and “apology,” as previous leaders did on the 50th and 60th anniversaries.
For China and South Korea, which suffered under the yoke of Japan’s imperial ambition — the terms are a crucial marker of Tokyo’s acceptance of guilt for its march across Asia in the 1930s and 1940s, which left millions dead.
Abe suggested in a television interview broadcast late on Monday, that provided he says he agrees with previous statements: “I don’t think I need to write it again.”
Beijing and Seoul vociferously argue that Tokyo has not properly atoned for its warring and insist that a landmark 1995 statement expressing deep remorse must stand.
However, Abe wants Japan to have what he said is a less masochistic view of its history, and has caused waves by quibbling over the definition of “invade,” and provoked anger by downplaying Tokyo’s formalized wartime system of sex slavery.
While many of its former foes have moved past the enmity of last century, Japan is regularly lambasted by Beijing and Seoul for a perceived failure to atone for the past, and for being unwilling to “face history squarely.”
Last week, Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami said Japan must continue saying sorry for its aggression until its former victims say “enough.”
Omitting a direct apology in the summer statement would damage Japanese diplomacy, Waseda University visiting professor Tetsuro Kato said.
“Japan’s relations with neighboring nations could become worse,” he said. “Denying the history of aggression or simply not mentioning it would be a very strong message [of the wrong kind],” he said.
The Yasukuni Shrine also received offerings from Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Yasuhisa Shiozaki as well as the chiefs of both chambers of Japanese parliament.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source