Japan grappled yesterday with fallout from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to a Tokyo war shrine, as diplomats reportedly worked to mend frayed ties with China and South Korea amid a wave of criticism at home.
Police, meanwhile, linked a right-wing extremist to what was apparently an arson attack against a Koizumi critic.
The blaze late on Tuesday destroyed the house of lawmaker Koichi Kato, who had spoken out against Koizumi's visit earlier in the day to Yasukuni Shrine, which critics say glorifies Japanese military conquests.
PHOTO: EPA
Police said yesterday the 65-year-old suspect in the attack, who was found in the building suffering from an apparently self-inflicted abdominal wound, was a member of a Tokyo-based right-wing group, the kind that staunchly supports Yasukuni.
A separate report said Japan's Foreign Ministry was attempting to arrange a summit with China and South Korea by year's end to improve relations that were further undermined by Koizumi's shrine pilgrimage.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Noriyuki Shikata said it was premature to nail down details but that Tokyo is interested in improving relations with its neighbors and that "there could be efforts along these lines."
Koizumi, who intends to step down next month, dealt a blow to Japan's ties with its neighbors on Tuesday by visiting Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on the especially symbolic date of Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
Koizumi defended his visit by saying he went to pray for peace and to honor fallen soldiers, not to celebrate militarism. Dozens of lawmakers also offered prayers there on Tuesday. The shrine honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including executed war criminals from World War II, and many in Asia and at home see it as proof that Japan has not fully atoned for its past aggression.
Newspapers critical
The pilgrimage was widely criticized in several newspaper editorials yesterday.
The Asahi Shimbun said, "It created a deep divide in the country over the question of how to mourn for the war dead, sparked a narrow-minded nationalism and pushed diplomacy into a deadlock."
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the trip was "self-righteous" and would "create the diplomatically damaging impression that Japan still refuses to face up to its bloody militaristic past."
Even the conservative Yomiuri Shimbun said Koizumi's issue will only fuel further debate.
"The next prime minister has to tackle the problems Koizumi will leave left behind regarding this issue," the Yomiuri wrote.
"Deeper discussions should be held among the Japanese public, too," it said.
To smooth ties, the Foreign Ministry is now aiming for a meeting between Koizumi's successor and leaders of China and South Korea on the sidelines of an APEC summit in November, or at an ASEAN gathering the following month, the Yomiuri said, without citing sources.
Koizumi made his pilgrimage to the shrine despite complaints from China and South Korea and several days of demonstrations in Tokyo by those who feel the shrine glorifies Japanese militarism. It was his sixth visit there since taking office in 2001.
The pilgrimage immediately brought rebukes from Beijing and Seoul, while the US State Department urged the three nations to work harder to "build good, constructive, neighborly, transparent relations."
Koizumi is scheduled to leave office at the end of next month, which means his successor -- likely Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe -- will start his term with fresh diplomatic troubles.
"The Koizumi government will come to an end. For the Chinese side also, there is nothing good about prolonging this problem," a Foreign Ministry official was quoted as saying by the Yomiuri.
Because Koizumi's successor has not yet been decided and his priorities in terms of foreign policy have yet to be set, it is too early to arrange summit meetings, Shikata said. But multilateral meetings are good forums for such summits, he added.
"As a government policy, it is certain that the prime minister will change and we hope there will be close dialogue at the summit level," Shikata said.
South Korea said yesterday there won't be a summit with Japan while leaders continue to visit the shrine.
"Whoever becomes the next Japanese prime minister, we maintain our position that we expect Japan to show with actions its efforts to earn the trust of the international community," Seo Joo-seok, the chief presidential security aide, said in interview with KBS radio.
"This is also the case with the issue of visiting Yasukuni Shrine," he said.
Seo said there have not yet been any detailed discussions about holding a summit on the sidelines of the APEC or ASEAN meetings.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of