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Japan's Abe should learn from Germany: Xinhua
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Jan 01, 2014


Japan minister visits controversial war shrine
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 01, 2014 - A Japanese cabinet minister visited a controversial war shrine in Tokyo on Wednesday, six days after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's own visit enraged Tokyo's neighbours and sparked criticism from Washington.

Yoshitaka Shindo, the minister of internal affairs and communication, visited Yasukuni shrine on New Year's Day as thousands of people attended Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples to pray for good fortune in 2014, Jiji and Kyodo news agencies said.

Last Thursday Abe made his first visit as premier to the shrine, which honours Japan's war dead including several high-level officials executed for war crimes after World War II.

China and South Korea see it as a brutal reminder of Tokyo's imperialist past and wartime aggression, and its failure to repent for its history.

"I have paid the visit with feelings of reverence for people who lost their lives in war," said Shindo, a grandson of Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who led the Japanese imperial army in the fierce battle with US forces on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima in the closing days of World War II.

"I have renewed my wish for peace, hoping that the war shall not be repeated again," the 55-year-old told reporters at the shrine.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying expressed Beijing's "strong protest" over the visit, calling it "yet another provocative act" by a Japanese cabinet member.

"We solemnly urge Japan to reflect on history and change direction," Hua said in a statement on the ministry website.

Abe, known for his nationalist views, came to power in December 2012 in an election landslide.

He previously served as premier from 2006 to 2007 without visiting Yasukuni after his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi's repeated pilgrimages there saw ties with Beijing and Seoul plunge to their worst in decades.

Apart from Abe last week, prime ministers since Koizumi refrained from going to the shrine while in office. But conservative lawmakers regularly offer prayers there for the war dead.

"I paid the visit in my personal capacity as a personal matter of my heart," Shindo said

He visited the shrine at least three times last year including on August 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, Kyodo News said.

Chinese state media kept up the heat on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the first day of 2014, urging him to learn from Germany in dealing with divisive historical issues.

"Abe's conspicuous lack of historical honesty contrasts shamefully with the courage and vision of late West German Chancellor Willy Brandt," the official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary Wednesday.

It highlighted Brandt's 1970 visit to a monument in Poland to victims of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising -- a revolt by Jews against deportations to Nazi death camps that was brutally crushed by German troops -- when he famously fell to his knees.

What Brandt did was a "spontaneous act of genuine repentance", Xinhua added.

"He said no words, but his silent apology spoke a lot: Germany repents its history, is willing to make up for the past, and stands ready to earn the international trust it needs to move on."

China has intensified criticism of Abe since December 26 when he visited Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine. It honours several high-level officials executed for war crimes after World War II, and serves as a reminder of Japan's 20th century aggression against China and other Asian nations.

On Monday Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Abe "himself closes a door of dialogue with Chinese leaders" and is "not welcome" by the Chinese people.

One Wednesday one of Abe's cabinet ministers paid his own visit to the shrine. Yoshitaka Shindo said he was renewing a wish for peace.

Separately, the Beijing News on Wednesday ran photos of Brandt kneeling in Warsaw and current Chancellor Angela Merkel standing before a wreath with her head bowed during a visit to the site of the Dachau concentration camp in August.

The photos accompanied short articles on reactions -- including by the German government -- to Abe's shrine visit.

"The sincere remorse and in-depth reflection of Brandt and other German leaders paved the way for their nation to be accepted by the international community," Xinhua said. "The moment Brandt knelt down, his nation stood up."

China regularly takes Japan to task over historical interpretations of the war and calls on it to learn "correct" lessons from history.

According to estimates by Chinese government researchers, China lost 20.6 million people directly from the war.

Abe came to power just over a year ago vowing to rejuvenate Japan's long moribund economy and amend its war-renouncing constitution.

His views on history -- he has previously questioned the definition of "invade" in relation to Japan's military adventurism last century -- have raised fears over the direction he wants to take the country.

After his visit to the shrine, he attempted to limit criticism, telling reporters it was not intended to hurt Chinese or South Koreans and should be seen as a pledge that Japan would not go to war again.

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