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April 18, 2005
Concrete mirrors
The visit of Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura to China this weekend does not appear to have been fruitful:
China refused to apologise for anti-Japanese protests yesterday, its foreign minister Li Zhaoxing telling his Japanese counterpart: "The Chinese government has never done anything for which it has to apologise to the Japanese people." [emphasis mine]
Koizumi, for his part, hopes a higher-level dialogue might smooth things over. Perhaps.
In yet another fine Xinhua piece, however, the Japanese are called upon to "take 'concrete actions' to face up with and self-examine its history of invasion." Well, ok. But exactly what "concrete actions" does China have in mind?
In line with the spirit of "taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future" and the three key political documents on bilateral ties, China hopes the two countries can co-exist peacefully, maintain friendship for generations to come, conduct cooperation on a mutually beneficial basis and seek commondevelopment, Li said.
"That will serve the long-term interests of the two countries as well as world peace, stability and development," said the Chinese foreign minister.
Li said the a correct view of history is a precondition for improving and developing China-Japan relations.
China hopes that the Japanese side will take concrete actions to foot its pledge of facing up with and self-examining its history of invasion, and stop doing things that would harm the feeling of the Chinese people so as to thoroughly tackle relevant problems, Li said.
For his part, Nobutaka said the Japanese government will adhere to the spirit of "taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future" and develop Japan-China friendship from the viewpoint of the overall situation of bilateral ties. [emphasis mine]
What exactly is "taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future"? Is that the "concrete action" the Chinese want Japan to take? I'm sorry, but any mediation of the current tensions has to be a team effort, with ideally several East Asian states participating fully and willingly. China's presciption is one for vague humiliation, not realistic resolution.
Posted by Daniel Widome at 07:45 PM to Asia
