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April 22, 2005
Spirits of humility and otherwise
If not a "concrete action", Koizumi's latest speech is certainly a big deal. From Xinhua's remarkably straight reporting:
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Friday that with feelings of "deep remorse" and "heartfelt apology" over its wartime atrocities engraved in mind, Japan would stick to the principle of resolving all matters by peaceful means.
"In the past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations," Koizumi said at the opening ceremony of the ongoing Asian-African summit in Jarkata. "Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility."
"With feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology always engraved in mind, Japan has resolutely maintained, consistently since the end of World War II, never turning into a military power but an economic power, its principle of resolving all matters by peaceful means, without recourse to use of force," he said.
The prime minister said 50 years ago, Japan stood before the Asian and African nations assembled at Bandung to declare its determination to develop itself as a peaceful nation. "That spirit of 50 years ago remains steadfast to this day."
"Japan once again states its resolve to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the world in the future as well, treasuring the relationship of trust it enjoys with the nations of the world," Koizumi said. [emphasis mine]
To be sure, Xinhua's straight "reporting" here consists mostly of direct quotes from Koizumi's speech, and the quotes happen to suit its particular agenda. Regardless, Koizumi's statement is definitely important. In surveying the other relevent media outlets, the Daily Yomiuri notes that Koizumi's words emulate a similar statement of remorse issued by then-PM Tomiichi Murayama 10 years ago. It also notes that Koizumi's speech was "the first time that a Japanese prime minister had referred to the issue of the so-called Japanese perception of history ... at a major international conference." Kyodo, for its part, notes that Koizumi's speech takes on even greater importance in light of his scheduled meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the Bandung conference tomorrow:
While Koizumi said he believes it was ''only natural'' for Japan to demand an apology and compensation for the damage done during the protests, he added that would not form the major portion of his meeting with Hu.
''It is only natural to file a protest,'' Koizumi said. ''But taking up that alone is not the main purpose of the talks.'' He added some Japanese people have also damaged Chinese property in Japan in recent weeks. [emphasis mine]
Koizimi's statement is strong, clear, and remarkably unambiguous. While it alone cannot settle the recent tensions in East Asia, it's hard to imagine what more the Chinese (and South Koreans, let's not forget) could reasonably expect from the Japanese PM. Koizumi's upcoming upcoming tête-à-tête with Hu is also promising, as is his stated expectation for the meeting. He has every right to demand an official Chinese apology for the protests, simply because the evidence of government complicity in them is so clear. In light of Chinese attempts to bury their contemporary responsibility under Japan's historical one, Koizumi seems to have conducted himself admirably in recent days. The Chinese cannot reasonably expect much more from him until they themselves make some effort at contrition. And according to Xinhua -- this time, back in their more comfortable role as state mouthpiece -- they are:
A boycott of Japanese goods will damage the interests of both China and Japan, said Bo Xilai, Chinese minister of commerce.
In a recent interview with local press, Bo said some people have advocated to boycott Japanese commodities to express dissatisfaction with Japan's denial of its "aggression history." In fact, on the sidelines of the economic globalization, the production factors have been allocated in accordance with the law of value, and nations have been interdependent in the economic development.
Many famous Japanese brand goods are actually made by joint ventures, he said.
He voiced the belief that the people of advocating the boycott would express their patriotism in a sensible way, safeguard the stability of society and put their patriotism in their work to push forward the economic development.
He said the Chinese and Japanese peoples and economic circles have benefited from bilateral economic and trade relations, which is reciprocal. [emphasis mine]
So all is hopeful leading up to the Koizumi-Hu meeting? Not quite:
Just hours before Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologized, a Cabinet minister and more than 80 Japanese lawmakers visited a Tokyo shrine to Japan's war dead. China's Foreign Ministry expressed "strong dissatisfaction over the negative actions of some Japanese politicians" in visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, which also honor's Japan's executed war criminals.
"That President (sic) Koizumi expressed this attitude in this arena is welcome. We welcome it," ministry spokesman Kong Quan told reporters at a summit of Asian and African leaders. "But to express it is one aspect. What's of much more importance is the action. You have to make it a reality." [emphasis mine]
The role of Yasukuni in this whole affair is positively maddening. But Kong's statement at least sheds some light on what "concrete actions" the Chinese might have in mind for Japan to take. Koizumi's words are appreciated, yes, but how sincere are they when they are preceded by such a blatant visit to Yasukuni by a member of the PM's cabinet and 80 lawmakers? The whole episode is all too easily dismissed as a classic example of Japanese ambiguousness. If true, one would almost expect China's frustration to increase. But what if the timing of Koizumi's speech and the lawmakers' Yasukuni visit is not a result of Japanese ambiguousness but of Japanese democracy? Koizumi does not have the benefits of a massive state and media apparatus with which to control events or the movements of politicians in his own country, as someone like Hu Jintao does. I can't help but think of the parallels with Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount in 2000, which set off the Palestinian intifada that rages to this day. The visit was ill-timed and insulting, but in a democracy such as Israel (or Japan), the government cannot dictate the travel of every lawmaker. Hopefully, the current tensions in East Asia will not follow anything approaching the unfortunate route that they took in the Middle East following Sharon's ill-timed visit.
In any event, the Chinese have been just as ambiguous as the Japanese, especially with regard to the "concrete actions" they demand. Koizumi seems to have done as much as he can at this point, but the Chinese reaction was spoiled by this ill-timed Yasukuni visit by the lawmakers. It gave China a perfectly good excuse to dismiss Koizumi's statement and to prolong the haggling. Is the implication, then, that all would be well if Yasukuni were declared off-limits to government leaders? As powerful a force as Yasukuni is, I can't believe the Chinese would rest easy if such a scenario would come to pass. Too many outstanding issues would remain, from maritime boundary disputes to the UN Security Council to the ever-present textbook tensions. And besides, Yasukuni will remain an important and politically necessary stop for Japanese politicians for the foreseeable future. Blame that on Japanese ambiguousness or on Japanese democracy, but by continually barking up the Yasukuni tree, China is just making a bunch of noise. I am eager to see how the Koizumi-Hu summit goes tomorrow. Perhaps, with their leaders finally meeting face-to-face, Japan and China can stop shouting past each other.
UPDATE: The full text of Koizumi's speech is here, and a piece on China's explicit prevention of more anti-Japan protests this weekend is here.
Posted by Daniel Widome at 04:32 PM to Asia
