In my previous blog, I introduced the conflict between China and Japan over the Diao’yu (Senkaku) Islands. This event is unexpected if we know the current Japanese cabinet’s attitude to China. The incumbent and former Japanese Prime Ministers Naoto Kan and Yukio Hatoyama are noticeable for their pro-China attitude. Unlike his predecessors, Hatoyama did not pay visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where WWII war criminals were enshrined. This is a clear indication of his friendship to China and Korea, both of which Japan had invaded or occupied. Hatoyama was also the family name of a demonized Japanese military policeman in a Chinese opera. After Yukio Hatoyama became the Prime Minister, Ministry of Central Propaganda ordered that no villain can be named as Hatoyama.
The incumbent Prime Minister Naoto Kan was a member of a Japanese youth delegation to China in 1984. The group got warm welcome from the then Chinese Prime Minister HU Yaobang. His ambassador to China, Niwa Uichiro is the first one not from Japan’s traditional diplomatic circle where ‘pro-China’ is a taboo. He told people he is pro-China but also patriotic. He has been working on the friendship between the two countries because he knows the two countries have been and will be forever neighbors. He is an entrepreneur who has deep connections in China. He also serves as consultant of many important municipal and provincial governments in China including Beijing.
So, it is clear that rebuilding the friendship with China is the incumbent government’s major agenda. Although both countries have their claims on the ownership of Diaoyu Islands, it is not likely that they will continue the stalemate. True, Kan sent a secret emissary to China to compromise, and on October 5th, Kan and Chinese Prime Minister WEN Jiabao “unexpectedly” met in the hallway during the Asia-Europe Meeting.
• 菅 直人 (Kan Naoto)
• 鳩山 由紀夫(Hatoyama Yukio)
• 小澤 一郎 (Ozawa Ichirō)
• 丹羽 宇一郎 (Niwa Uichiro)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
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