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A thorn in the relations between China, Japan

By Liang Yunxiang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-06 07:44

The Japanese prime minister Taro Aso paid a visit to China on April 29 and 30. The visit, a normal diplomatic exchange, seems logical when the two Asian giants are seeking to improve the bilateral relations. A week before the visit, however, Aso irked China on a sensitive issue that had long hampered Sino-Japanese relations - the Yasukuni Shrine. On April 21, he offered sacrifice at the Yasukuni Shrine in the name of the prime minister, which incurred the strong displeasure of China.

Sino-Japanese relations are vital for the East Asian region as well as the world. Negative factors in history and reality often make the relationship unstable or even enmeshed it in intense friction. The Yasukuni Shrine is one such negative factor.

The issue of the Yasukuni Shrine reflects how Japan recognizes and deals with its modern history, especially World War II. The Japanese government built the shrine after the Meiji Restoration, aiming at enshrining and offering sacrifice in memory of the soldiers who died fighting for the country, thus glorifying their courage and consoling their family members.

It is a tradition for the Japanese to proceed on a pilgrimage to shrines for commemorating the dead relatives and praying for their well being. The Yasukuni Shrine, however, is not a normal shrine, because it was established by the government and dedicated only to the soldiers who died fighting on behalf of Imperial Japan. The souls of 2.46 million dead soldiers, most of whom were killed in World War II, are consecrated there. Since Japan's international wars after the Meiji Restoration were all wars of aggression, the enshrined soldiers died for aggressive Japanese militarism. They caused even more victims and deaths among Japan's neighbors, including China, and caused enormous physical losses and mental trauma to them. Since December 1978, even the souls of 14 Class-A war criminals of World War II have been consecrated in the shrine.

Though the shrine is no longer administered by the Japanese government after the war and it has become a religious institution, many Japanese politicians including a few prime ministers still make pilgrimages to it. In August 1985, Japanese prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone officially went on a pilgrimage to the shrine, stirring a diplomatic row between China and Japan and provoking protests by the Chinese people. Since then, the Yasukuni Shrine has become a sensitive issue in Sino-Japanese relations. Between 2001 and 2006, prime minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the shrine every year, despite the opposition of Japan's neighbors including China. It directly led to the breakup of Sino-Japanese political relations. The deterioration of Sino-Japanese relations not only impaired the interests of both countries, but also caused instability in East Asia.

The disputes over the Yasukuni Shrine notwithstanding, stable Sino-Japanese relations are crucial for both countries, and the Yasukuni Shrine issue is not all there is to relations between the two countries. Hence, after Koizumi left office in September 2006, China and Japan sought reconciliation. A month later, prime minister Shinzo Abe visited China immediately after assuming office and proposed establishing of strategic and mutually beneficial relations. Thereafter, the heads of the two governments resumed exchanges and fleshed out their relations.

During Aso's visit this time, Chinese and Japanese leaders confirmed and emphasized the strategic and mutually beneficial relations, and agreed to deal jointly with the global financial crisis, extend areas of bilateral economic cooperation, and promote cultural exchange.

Since October 2006, Japanese prime ministers have not visited the shrine. Abe, however, offered sacrifice to the shrine during his tenure. Aso adopted the same approach this time - of offering sacrifice without making a pilgrimage.

It seems that offering sacrifice to the Yasukuni Shrine did not affect Aso's visit to China, which indicates that Sino-Japanese relations are becoming more rational and stable. The issue of the shrine usually stirs conflicts, of ideas and emotions; and it is very difficult for China and Japan to change each other and achieve consensus on the issue. In their own overall interest, however, both sides now avoid conflict on this issue, and compromise with and concede ground to each other.

The Japanese prime ministers do not pay pilgrimage to the shrine at least during their term of office, thus satisfying the demand of China. They, however, still need to meet their own emotional demands as also of some others in Japan. Thus, Aso, who had advocated the pilgrimage in the past, decided to offer a sacrifice instead of making a pilgrimage. Though the Chinese government made clear its discontent, considering the overall situation of Sino-Japanese relations, it is not interested in sensationalizing the event if only to prevent a standoff as in the time of Koizumi.

The shrine issue is unlikely to be conclusively resolved and will continue to affect Sino-Japanese relations. However, China and Japan are not willing to allow this issue to damage the overall framework of the emerging strategic and mutually beneficial relations. If the two countries can identify more common interests, then the dispute over the Yasukuni Shrine will recede to the background and not harm relations between the two.

The author is a professor at the School of International Relations, Peking University.

(China Daily 05/06/2009 page8)