Abe's shrine visit calls for wider reflection

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/CHIN-01-060114.html

SINOGRAPH

Abe's shrine visit calls for wider reflection

(Jan 6, '14)

As far as acts of reverence go, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine to pray among the souls of 28 war criminals was brazen. Deeper reflection of Japan's imperial past - much as China needs to reassess the influence of Mao Zedong in its present-day affairs - would help reduce bitter memories that stand in the way of a more peaceful balance of power in Asia. - Francesco Sisci

BEIJING - In one of his last acts of 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in late December visited the controversial Yasakuni shrine, where among the souls of war heroes, 28 war criminals are also celebrated. The visit put a new spin to heightening tensions in East Asia, which had been rising after China declared a new air defense identification zone over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, disputed with Japan. China's ADIZ isolated China when Japan was in retreat; Abe's Yasukuni visit reverted the process and isolatedJapan, proving to many countries, already suspicious of Japan, that Abe was the guilty party in this contest, and put the United States in difficulty as part-victim of the 28 criminals Abe went to pray for.

It was a major victory for Beijing and a major international defeat for Japan. Yet it is not just international tit-tat. There is possibly deeper working here. For this we have to take a small detour.