Isabel Reynolds
By Isabel Reynolds
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s election victory means he’ll lead Japan into the 70th anniversary of its World War II defeat in 2015, a watershed year that will set the tone for its fraught ties with China and South Korea. Deft handling of next year’s anniversary could assuage regional anger over Japan’s attitude to past aggression, while any missteps could worsen the situation, with Abe now poised to remain premier at least until the 2016 upper house election.
“Like him or not, China has to deal with him for another term,” said Lian Degui, deputy director of he Japanese Studies Center at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.”If Abe takes the opportunity to admit Japan’s wrongdoing during World War II, then the relationship between the countries can be fundamentally improved,” he said. Aggressive actions will mean “it can only get worse.”
Abe inherited sour relations with both countries when he took the reins in December 2012 amid territorial disputes and continuing recriminations over Japan’s past aggression. His administration’s wavering over Japan’s war apologies and his December 2013 visit to Yasukuni Shrine, seen by many in China and South Korea as a symbol of Japanese militarism, have hampered reconciliation.
The anniversary is crucial because of Japan’s tradition of marking each decade with a statement on its wartime role. Abe plans his own pronouncement next year, following apologies on the 50th and 60th anniversaries of Japan’s Aug. 15 surrender. If he is seen as backsliding on past apologies, it could reignite Chinese anger that spilled over into anti-Japanese demonstrations after Japan bought three of the disputed islands from a private owner in September 2012.
Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to strike a warning note at a Dec. 13 commemoration of the 1937 Nanjing massacre, over which China and Japan disagree about the number and nature of casualties inflicted by troops of the Imperial Army. “Forgetting history means betrayal and denying the crime means committing it once again,” he said. In recent months there have been signs of a thaw in Sino- Japanese ties. Xi agreed to Abe’s request for a bilateral meeting in Beijing last month after the Japanese premier repeatedly said his government would uphold past statements of remorse. The two did meet, though an unsmiling Xi looked uncomfortable as he shook Abe’s hand before the encounter.
China remains Japan’s biggest trade partner, the number of incursions by Chinese ships into Japanese-controlled waters around disputed East China Sea islands has fallen, and Chinese tourists continue to flock to Japan in growing numbers. South Korean President Park Geun-hye said last month she is hoping for a three-way summit with Japan and China, though so far she has refused Abe’s entreaties for a bilateral meeting.
There will be ample opportunities to draw attention to Japan’s violent past across Asia in 2015, as South Korea celebrates the anniversary of its liberation from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule and a newly confident China touts its role in the victory over Japan.
Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will co-host commemorations of the “world anti-Fascist war and China’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression” next year. While German Chancellor Angela Merkel was invited to World War II commemorations in Europe in June, there are no reports of similar invitations for Abe.
Ties with South Korea will be delicate, after a year in which Japan appeared to question its own apology to women trafficked to Japanese military brothels across Asia before and during the war. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said it was inappropriate to refer to the so-called “comfort women,” many of whom were Korean, as “sex slaves,” and a Japanese newspaper withdrew a series of stories about their forcible recruitment. With Abe’s election victory, Park will feel pressure to try to ratchet down tensions, said Yang Kee-ho, a professor of Japanese studies at Sungkonghoe University in Seoul.
“There’s a bigger incentive for Park to try to do something,” said Yang. “But the issue is the dispute over comfort women. Unless Abe makes a proposal that South Korea can accept over the issue, it’s ultimately impossible to expect the relations to get better.”
Japan, is planning to strike a deal with South Korea and the U.S. to allow the sharing of military secrets, the Nikkei newspaper said this week.
In a 1995 statement, then-prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, a socialist, said Japan “through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries.” He also referred to “deep remorse” and “heartfelt apology.” Ten years later, Junichiro Koizumi used the same language of remorse in his own statement, even so failing to prevent the issue resurfacing.
The stakes are high for Abe as his political pedigree, his appeal to Japanese nationalists and his efforts to boost Japan’s defense forces have fueled mistrust in South Korea and China. Abe’s grandfather Nobusuke Kishi was a member of Prime Minister Hideki Tojo’s wartime government and arrested as a war criminal, though never indicted. He later served as prime minister.
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By Isabel Reynolds
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s election victory means he’ll lead Japan into the 70th anniversary of its World War II defeat in 2015, a watershed year that will set the tone for its fraught ties with China and South Korea. Deft handling of next year’s anniversary could assuage regional anger over Japan’s attitude to past aggression, while any missteps could worsen the situation, with Abe now poised to remain premier at least until the 2016 upper house election.
“Like him or not, China has to deal with him for another term,” said Lian Degui, deputy director of he Japanese Studies Center at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.”If Abe takes the opportunity to admit Japan’s wrongdoing during World War II, then the relationship between the countries can be fundamentally improved,” he said. Aggressive actions will mean “it can only get worse.”
Abe inherited sour relations with both countries when he took the reins in December 2012 amid territorial disputes and continuing recriminations over Japan’s past aggression. His administration’s wavering over Japan’s war apologies and his December 2013 visit to Yasukuni Shrine, seen by many in China and South Korea as a symbol of Japanese militarism, have hampered reconciliation.
The anniversary is crucial because of Japan’s tradition of marking each decade with a statement on its wartime role. Abe plans his own pronouncement next year, following apologies on the 50th and 60th anniversaries of Japan’s Aug. 15 surrender. If he is seen as backsliding on past apologies, it could reignite Chinese anger that spilled over into anti-Japanese demonstrations after Japan bought three of the disputed islands from a private owner in September 2012.
Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to strike a warning note at a Dec. 13 commemoration of the 1937 Nanjing massacre, over which China and Japan disagree about the number and nature of casualties inflicted by troops of the Imperial Army. “Forgetting history means betrayal and denying the crime means committing it once again,” he said. In recent months there have been signs of a thaw in Sino- Japanese ties. Xi agreed to Abe’s request for a bilateral meeting in Beijing last month after the Japanese premier repeatedly said his government would uphold past statements of remorse. The two did meet, though an unsmiling Xi looked uncomfortable as he shook Abe’s hand before the encounter.
China remains Japan’s biggest trade partner, the number of incursions by Chinese ships into Japanese-controlled waters around disputed East China Sea islands has fallen, and Chinese tourists continue to flock to Japan in growing numbers. South Korean President Park Geun-hye said last month she is hoping for a three-way summit with Japan and China, though so far she has refused Abe’s entreaties for a bilateral meeting.
There will be ample opportunities to draw attention to Japan’s violent past across Asia in 2015, as South Korea celebrates the anniversary of its liberation from 35 years of Japanese colonial rule and a newly confident China touts its role in the victory over Japan.
Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin will co-host commemorations of the “world anti-Fascist war and China’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression” next year. While German Chancellor Angela Merkel was invited to World War II commemorations in Europe in June, there are no reports of similar invitations for Abe.
Ties with South Korea will be delicate, after a year in which Japan appeared to question its own apology to women trafficked to Japanese military brothels across Asia before and during the war. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said it was inappropriate to refer to the so-called “comfort women,” many of whom were Korean, as “sex slaves,” and a Japanese newspaper withdrew a series of stories about their forcible recruitment. With Abe’s election victory, Park will feel pressure to try to ratchet down tensions, said Yang Kee-ho, a professor of Japanese studies at Sungkonghoe University in Seoul.
“There’s a bigger incentive for Park to try to do something,” said Yang. “But the issue is the dispute over comfort women. Unless Abe makes a proposal that South Korea can accept over the issue, it’s ultimately impossible to expect the relations to get better.”
Japan, is planning to strike a deal with South Korea and the U.S. to allow the sharing of military secrets, the Nikkei newspaper said this week.
In a 1995 statement, then-prime minister Tomiichi Murayama, a socialist, said Japan “through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries.” He also referred to “deep remorse” and “heartfelt apology.” Ten years later, Junichiro Koizumi used the same language of remorse in his own statement, even so failing to prevent the issue resurfacing.
The stakes are high for Abe as his political pedigree, his appeal to Japanese nationalists and his efforts to boost Japan’s defense forces have fueled mistrust in South Korea and China. Abe’s grandfather Nobusuke Kishi was a member of Prime Minister Hideki Tojo’s wartime government and arrested as a war criminal, though never indicted. He later served as prime minister.
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