Bitter war memories haunt ties with Beijing and Seoul
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine for war dead on Wednesday, the anniversary of Japan’s second world war surrender, but did not visit in person.
Past visits by Japanese leaders to Yasukuni have outraged China and South Korea because the shrine honours 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal, along with war dead.
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Masahiko Shibayama, who made the offering on Abe’s behalf, said the prime minister asked him to pray for the souls of the departed and that Abe regretted being unable to pay his respects in person.
Abe has only visited the shrine in person once since taking office in 2012 but has previously sent offerings.
China’s relations with Japan have long been haunted by what Beijing sees as Tokyo’s failure to atone for its occupation of parts of China before and during the second world war, although ties have thawed somewhat recently.
