Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi continues to make wild claims. At this point you feel pity for him, instead of just rage. His response to the growing controversy over his visits to worship at Yasukuni shrine is that only China and Korea think it a problem. His attitude originates in arrogant thinking, which says that since other countries are not interested in the issue, China and Korea can make all the noise they want to about it.
Now even United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has brought up Koizumi's perceptions of history. Having arrived in Japan after visiting Korea, Annan advised the Japanese leader that relations with neighboring countries will improve if Japan reflects on the past and express regret, as did Germany, the other country defeated in World War II. He said that relations between Korea and Japan are important in a global context instead of just a regional one, and that since Korea has not shut her doors, Japan should try to work to better things between the two.
It cannot have been easy for Annan to have involved himself in issues between the two countries, and yet Koizumi's response makes you doubt your ears. He told Annan that Japan's relations with China and Korea are better than they have ever been before, and that those countries should not refuse to have summit talks over the Yasukuni issue. Koizumi is essentially being ostracized in Northeast Asian summit diplomacy, but he acts as if nothing is out of the ordinary. It is hard to tell whether he is just pretending, or whether he is so clueless that he does not feel anything.
Koizumi will not be able to patch over the existant problems by faithfully following the policies of the Bush Administration, while at the same time showing indifference to Japan's Asian neighbors. Even among politicians and Asia experts from the U.S., there is a growing annoyance with Koizumi's obstinate behavior. The concern is that if his wild claims continue unchecked, they could hurt U.S. interests. In a reflection of that mood, Henry Hyde, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, recently sent Koizumi a letter in which he told him he must promise to stop worshiping at Yasukuni if he wants to speak before Congress the next time he visits the U.S.
Frustrated civic groups in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan have decided to join forces to try and stop Japanese leaders from making their Yasukuni visits. One hopes to see a major debate take place in Japan about the how imprudent behavior of some politicians is hurting reconciliation and cooperation in East Asia.
Koizumi deaf to Annan's candid advice |