BEIJING - Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan vowed on Tuesday he would not visit the Yasukuni Shrine honoring war dead while in office, indicating no change in the party's strategy of maintaining good relations with Beijing, despite the power shift.

"I think it is a problem for the prime minister or cabinet ministers to officially pay their respects at the Yasukuni Shrine because Class A war criminals are honored there," said Kan, who took power last week.

"I do not plan to pay my respects there while in office," he told parliament.

The shrine, which honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead in World War II, including 14 Class-A war criminals, has long been a sensitive issue between Japan and neighboring countries, especially China and the Republic of Korea.

Repeated visits by Junichiro Koizumi, Japanese prime minister from 2001 to 2006, irritated Beijing and impacted the relationship. Japan and China established diplomatic relations in 1972.

All of Koizumi's successors have avoided visiting the shrine while in office. But Kan is only the second Japanese prime minister that has vowed to stay away from the disputed place, following his predecessor Yukio Hatoyama, also from the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

According to Kyodo News, Kan also accepted Premier Wen Jiabao's invitation to visit China during a phone conversation on Sunday night.

Separately, the new Japanese administration on Tuesday officially appointed Uichiro Niwa Japanese ambassador to China. Niwa, a Japanese businessman with extensive China experience, first came to China in the 1980s.

At the age of 71, Niwa is the first Japanese civilian picked as ambassador after the war.

Kyodo said the new ambassador is expected to take office in late July.

"The DPJ wants to show the party's resolution to eliminate bureaucracy through picking a prominent business figure," the report said.

China Daily

(China Daily 06/16/2010 page6)