The increasing opposition of Japanese people to their leader's
diplomatically harmful visits to a shrine honoring convicted war
criminals signals progress in tense Sino-Japanese relations,
Chinese analysts say.
A survey in the Tokyo newspaper Mainichi showed that 54
percent of 1,065 Japanese respondents said that whoever succeeds
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi who will step down in September
should not visit Yasukuni Shrine.
Thirty-three percent supported the visits, with the rest
undecided, a poll found last weekend.
Mainichi's last poll in January had both supporters and
opponents at 47 percent.
Another survey, conducted by the Nihon Keizai business
newspaper published at the same time as the most recent
Mainichi poll, showed similar results, with 53 percent
opposing the prime minister's war shrine visits, 28 percent
supporting them and 19 percent undecided.
The shrine honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including 14
convicted class-A World War II war criminals.
Huang Xingyuan, a scholar on Sino-Japanese relations, attributed
the rise in opposition to Japan's prolonged diplomatic row with its
Asian neighbors.
"Japan's frigid ties with China and South Korea have already
emerged as the focal point in Japanese society as well as in the
race to succeed Koizumi, which has helped the public march toward a
correct understanding of the Yasukuni Shrine," Huang said.
"China cannot make any concessions on Yasukuni."
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, the candidate most
favored to succeed Koizumi as prime minister, is unlikely to visit
the shrine on August 15, ahead of the ruling party's presidential
election, according to Japanese media.
The date marks the 61st anniversary of Japan's surrender in the
war. Koizumi is widely expected to make a final visit to Yasukuni
on that day, which a majority of respondents also opposed,
Mainichi said.
Huang said the change in attitude adopted by the Japanese public
on the issue will help the resumption and development of the
bilateral ties.
Bu Ping, a researcher with Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
said the insignificant rise cannot prove anything because the
numbers of pro- and anti-visit responders has stayed about even for
some time.
He said the Yasukuni Shrine issue is complicated but agreed that
the growing number against the visits, no matter how small, is a
positive sign.
As far as public response, Liu Liu, a 26-year-old civil servant
in south China's Guangdong Province, said Koizumi's visits have
been to satisfy political purposes without regard for public
opinion.
"The final say depends on the Japanese government, not the
people," she said, "However, the poll will at least urge the
government to review its current attitude."
(China Daily July 25, 2006)
