Abe may skip visit to Yasukuni war shrine in nod to Xi
Japanese PM likely to opt not to visit Yasukuni memorial, which honours war criminals, in effort to thaw frosty ties with Beijing by securing a summit
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will likely skip visiting a shrine for war dead on a traditional remembrance day this month, a move he hopes will open the door to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping and mend badly frayed ties.
Whether Xi, faced with huge domestic challenges, is willing or able to risk responding to the overture remains in doubt. But relations between the world’s second- and third-largest economies have now been hostile for months, with a row over disputed islands adding to wartime bitterness and a regional rivalry.
The question of timing is pretty critical. If Abe goes (to Yasukuni) in October, it is disastrous for Xi if they are talking about a summit in September
China and South Korea, occupied or colonised by Japan in the 20th century, are especially touchy about visits to Yasukuni Shrine by Japanese leaders because it also honours people convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal.
Conservatives like Abe say it is only natural to pay respects there to those who died for their country, especially on August 15, the anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the second world war. Tokyo hopes that if Abe stays away on the day, it would score points in Beijing.
“Now is the most delicate time,” said a government source with knowledge of discussions between Japan and China, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. “It may be that when a leaders’ summit takes place, we look back and say ‘that was the start’.”
Abe, 58, is keen to replicate one of the few successes of his troubled 2006-2007 term, when he thawed Sino-Japanese ties after a five-year chill during the tenure of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, diplomatic experts say.
