By Gao Hong
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As is well known, Japan's relations with its neighbors hit a brick
wall from time to time owing to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors
Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals.
Voices from inside Japan are getting louder, urging Koizumi to
stop visiting the shrine and handle relations with China and South
Korea in a reasonable manner.
Koizumi alleges that he visits the shrine on a personal basis,
and that this has nothing to do with diplomacy. Moreover, he has
tried to drag the United States into the dispute, claiming that
Washington has never criticized his Yasukuni Shrine visits.
Now comes a telling blow. Henry Hyde, chairman of the US House
of Representatives International Relations Committee, in his letter
to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, asked Koizumi to promise a stop to
his visits to the shrine before addressing the US Congress in
June.
Without this assurance, Koizumi's visit to Capitol Hill would
dishonor the place where Franklin Roosevelt made his "day of
infamy" speech after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, wrote
Hyde.
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For the generation that remembers Pearl Harbor, a visit by Koizumi
to Yasukuni soon after a speech to the US Congress would be an
affront, he said.
What lies behind Koizumi's shrine visits is the fact that
Japan's political status in the world political arena does not
match its economic power, which has been caused by Japan's
historical legacy of aggression against other Asian nations before
and during World War II.
Nobody wants to deny Japan the status of a normal country. But
the Koizumi-fashioned road of forceful breakthrough leads in the
wrong direction. Not a single Asian country that was overrun by
Japanese imperial troops wishes to see Japan forever worn down by
its historical liabilities. But in the face of a neighbor who
refuses to repent for his past bad deeds and gets increasingly
pushy, people cannot help but worry that Japan is treading on its
old militarist road.
It is Koizumi's behavior that suggests that Japan is deviating
from its post-war road of peaceful development and, therefore,
makes Japan look increasingly abnormal.
True, the United States wants Japan to play a role in Asia akin
to that played by the United Kingdom in other world political
sectors. But this does not necessarily mean the US Government would
tolerate behavior from Koizumi that greatly strains Japan's
relations with its Asian neighbors, behavior that threatens to tip
the strategic balance in Asia and, therefore, harms the interests
of the United States.
Koizumi and his followers, however, will not easily give up
their shrine visits despite the clear signal sent by Hyde. This is
because visits to the Yasukuni Shrine are not merely a matter of
"belief." They are also part of the strategy of realizing Japan's
dream of becoming a major power.
This kind of extreme stubbornness at all diplomatic costs
actually stems from an astute strategic calculation and, therefore,
in my opinion, would not be given up easily.
Will Hyde's points go totally unheeded and become meaningless?
This author believes that his words will have an impact in four
respects.
First, Hyde has warned Koizumi over his rash behavior, which is
based on a wrong historical outlook, on the eve of the latter's US
visit.
In this context, it is easy to imagine that Koizumi would be
unable to command the sympathy of the majority of his Capitol Hill
audience, who are reluctant to see the excessive worsening of
big-country relations in East Asia, if he harps on about Japan
getting close to the United States at the expense of its relations
with its Asian neighbors.
Second, the connection Hyde made in his letter between Franklin
Roosevelt's "day of infamy" speech at Capitol Hill immediately
after Japanese warplanes attacked Pearl Harbor and Koizumi's
possible visit to the Yasukuni Shrine soon after he visits the US
Congress has historical allusions.
Would this conjure up images of Japanese troops running amok in
Asia and the Pacific? People are likely to ask if Japan would shed
the "cloak of peace" it has been wearing since its defeat in World
War II, given that Japan's status in the US-Japanese alliance is
being continuously enhanced and it is gaining much more military
room for maneuver around the world?
Third, any voice from US political circles will naturally be
projected into the complex and sensitive Asian geopolitical
sector.
Fourth, pluralistic choice on the part of the United States will
indirectly impact the election of the leader of Japan's ruling
Liberal Democratic Party. This would help those Japanese
politicians who want Japan's diplomatic activities to be undertaken
in a more reasonable and rational manner.
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In the final analysis, however, Asian issues are resolved by
Asians. Outside forces cannot achieve solutions.
China, as an Asian country, should stick to its principles on
such matters as the Japanese leader's shrine visits. This is in the
long-term interests of all Asian countries, including Japan.
The author is a research fellow from the Institute of Japanese
Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
(China Daily May 31, 2006)
