Abe, who is scheduled to leave Tokyo later the day to attend the Asian-African Conference in Indonesia, dedicated a "masakaki" tree offering to the shrine which honors Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A criminals of World War II.
However, the prime minister is likely to refrain from visiting the war-linked shrine during its annual festival from Tuesday to Thursday in order to strike a balance between his conservative supporters and Japan's neighboring countries, said Japan's Kyodo News Agency.
Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
21/4/15
--
-
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Japanese PM Abe makes ritual offering at Yasukuni shrine...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - 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."......reuters.com
20/4/15