Japanese Defense Minister Yuriko Koike "will not visit" the
Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, the day Japan surrendered in World
War II 62 years ago, Japanese press reports quoted her as saying
yesterday.
The repeated visits by Japanese leaders' to the Yasukuni Shrine,
which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including 14 Class-A
WWII criminals, have soured Sino-Japanese relations for a long
time. They have also soured Japan's relations with its other
neighbors, which were subjected to all kinds of atrocities by the
invading Japanese army in the 1930s and 1940s.
Koike issued a statement to reporters at a hotel in Washington,
DC, during her first visit to the US since taking over as defense
minister last month. She visited the Yasukuni Shrine on August 15
of 2004 and 2005 when she was the environment minister.
This year she "plans to visit Okinawa", a Japanese island where
an intense battle was fought between Allied forces and the Japanese
army during WWII.
Koike said she had not visited the shrine since taking charge of
the defense portfolio on July 4.
On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he "had no
comment" when asked if he would visit the shrine on August 15.
Local media say the majority of the Japanese government and the
ruling party members believe Abe will not visit the shrine on
August 15 despite his falling public support, because he is
"committed to improving Tokyo's relations with Beijing and
Seoul".
Abe was widely praised in Japan for his choosing China as the
first stop of his official visit after taking office in last
September. His China tour turned to be a new start of the
Japan-China political relationship after about five years of
stagnation due to former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi's repeated visits to the notorious shrine.
(China Daily via agencies August 10, 2007)
