FM: Japan needs to learn from Germany
(AFP/China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-15 14:47

Chinese officials have already indicated that Chinese President Hu Jintao would not meet with Koizumi at the APEC annual meeting that begins in Seoul Friday.

A China News Service report quotes a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that there is no probability for a summit between Japan and China leaders at APEC meeting, and the probability of a meeting between Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers is also extremely low.

"China-Japanese relations are facing difficulties and the responsibility entirely lies with the Japanese side," Li said after the talks with his South Korean counterpart.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi leaves the controversial Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo. [AFP]

China and South Korea are also angry about Japan's approval of school textbooks, which they say gloss over wartime atrocities, and both states opposed Japan's failed bid for a permanent United Nations Security Council seat.

Under Koizumi, relations between Tokyo and Beijing have hit their lowest point since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1972. Anger over the textbooks and UN bid triggered massive anti-Japanese protests in China in April.

Amid continuing tension with China, new Japanese foreign minister Taro Aso has sought to smooth over ties with South Korea, which like China harbours resentment over its occupation by imperial Japan in the early 20th century.

South Korea's Ban met Aso on Monday and gave a frank message to Japanese leaders over the Yasukuni shrine. "Minister Ban asked Japanese government leaders to act in such a way as to lead the Korean people to believe in Japan's apology and repentance over the past," a senior South Korean official told reporters.

Despite anger with Japan over the textbook and Yasukuni issues, South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyan has promised to meet Koizumi at this week's summit out of courtesy because he is the host.