Tokyo - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering on Tuesday to a Tokyo shrine for war dead, a senior spokesman said, a day before he hopes to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a leaders' summit in Jakarta.
Abe sent a shrub in honour of Japanese killed in war, a gesture likely to anger China, although the timing of the offering - a day before a group of lawmakers pay their respects at the Yasukuni shrine - was seen as an attempt to avoid diplomatic embarrassment at Wednesday's summit.
Sino-Japanese ties have chilled in recent years due to feuds over Japan's wartime history, bitter memories of which persist in China, as well as territorial rows and mutual mistrust over Abe's bolder security policies and China's military assertiveness.
There was no immediate reaction from China to the offering, but a commentary in the state-run Xinhua news agency on Tuesday said: “Despite all the empty talk of peace, the current Japanese government has been moving toward the opposite end by challenging the post-war order, extending frequent reservations about its war defeat and playing tricks to challenge historical verdicts.”
Relations between the world's second- and third-largest economies thawed a little after Abe met Xi for a rare summit in Beijing late last year. Abe is expected to make brief remarks at the Asian-African summit in Jakarta on Wednesday, comments that will be closely watched for his stance on Japan's wartime aggression amid concerns he wants to tone down past apologies.
Abe's remarks on history could provide insight into whether the cautious rapprochement between Japan and China continues. The Yomiuri Shimbun daily said the two nations were working out details for the two leaders to meet and the final decision by China on that depended on Abe's remarks.
Chief Cabinet spokesman Yoshihide Suga repeated that Abe will uphold statements made by previous governments and no decision had been made about talks, but if the two leaders could meet “naturally,” they would.
“China is an important neighbour and there are many complicated issues, so we have long said it is important for leaders to meet without preconditions,” he told a news conference.
Abe's offering at Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine, where convicted war criminals are honoured along with other war dead, is part of his efforts to tread a fine line between satisfying conservative allies who want him to visit the shrine in person and a desire to keep the rapprochement with Beijing on track.
Abe had been expected to make the offering on Wednesday, when scores of lawmakers are set to pay their respects. Many in China and South Korea see the shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.
“Certainly ... China will perceive a mixed message no matter what he says about it being a private gesture,” Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian studies at Temple University's Japan campus, said of the offering.
“From China's perspective it will be problematic ... but Abe can say enough (in Jakarta) to get a meeting with Xi Jinping.”
A Japanese government source said Abe would express remorse over World War Two war in his remarks but media have said he would not emulate his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, who in 2005 repeated a landmark apology at that year's Asian-African conference.
Abe will make a high-profile speech to a joint session of the US Congress next week, the first by a Japanese leader, where he will stress that former enemies the United States and Japan are now the closest of allies, the Japanese source said.
Both the Jakarta remarks and the US speech will provide hints about a statement Abe plans to make in August to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two.
Reuters