| 01.01.2005 The Asahi Shimbun INSIGHT/ Speculation rife on next shrine visit Standing firm in the face of a backlash from China and lawsuits questioning the constitutionality of his act, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is set on visiting Yasukuni Shrine again this year, sources say. The only question is when, and how, he will pay his respects at the shrine for the nation's war dead, who include Class-A war criminals. Koizumi, the sources said, intends to stay true to his pledge to visit the controversial shrine each year to pray for world peace, even though a diplomatic furor erupts each time he does so. The timing of his visit will draw keen attention given that 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, which Chinese President Hu Jintao calls a ``sensitive'' year. Koizumi's repeated visits have left Japan's relationship with China in tatters as Beijing regards the shrine as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism. Meeting separately with Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao in November, Koizumi said he will ``deal with the issue properly.'' When asked by reporters Tuesday when he next intends to visit the shrine, Koizumi declined to answer. ``Yasukuni is not the only issue in Japan-China relations,'' he responded. ``It's only a part of them.'' Koizumi first visited as prime minister on Aug. 13, 2001, then on April 21, 2002, Jan. 14, 2003, and again on Jan. 1, 2004. It is considered highly unlikely he will go this month. To do so would enrage China, coming so soon after his promise to handle the issue ``properly.'' The shrine's spring festival in April could offer another opportunity, but that likely will not happen because it might jeopardize government hopes of inviting Wen in May to coincide with the World Expo in Aichi Prefecture. Summer is considered even more unlikely. Any visit around Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's defeat, would likely incense not just China but also South Korea. Hu minced no words when he declared 2005 a sensitive year. He said the anniversary marked China's ``victory against fascists.'' The shrine's autumn rites provide another opportunity for a visit, but it would carry the risk of not being able to schedule bilateral summits on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to be held in November. Thus, Koizumi could visit the shrine near the end of the year ``when everything is over,'' according to a well-placed source. Constitutional questions also complicate the picture. Of five court rulings on Yasukuni lawsuits in 2004, three concluded that Koizumi visited in his official capacity. In April, the Fukuoka District Court ruled that the visits violate the constitutional separation of politics and religion. The Yasukuni issue has strained relations with China so badly that two groups of ruling coalition politicians will visit Beijing shortly in an effort to restore good neighborly ties. One group to visit Jan. 11 will be led by former LDP Secretary-General Makoto Koga. Although Koga heads the association of war-bereaved families, he is sympathetic to calls within Japan to remove Class-A war criminals for enshrinement elsewhere. Beijing welcomes making Yasukuni less problematic.(IHT/Asahi: January 1,2005) |
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