The foreign ministry issued a belated comment yesterday on Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni shrine, saying his move hurt the feelings of Japan's neighbors, but stopped short of expressing any protest or regret.
In a mild statement that contrasted starkly with strong protests from South Korea and China, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Katharine Chang (張小月) said Koizumi's visit to the controversial shrine, where some war criminals from World War II are commemorated, "undoubtedly hurt the feelings of the people in neighboring countries."
Chang said Koizumi has presumably taken into account opposition from other Asian countries by canceling a visit to the shrine originally scheduled for today, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
To tone down the symbolism of visiting a shrine that to the eyes of some Asians is a monument to Japanese militarism, Koizumi went two days ahead of the anniversary to keep his promise to visit the shrine.
Chang urged Japan to adopt a "forward-looking" vision to promote friendly ties with its neighbors and jointly contribute to the "freedom, democracy, stability as well as prosperity of the Asian region."
When challenged by reporters over the delay in Taiwan's response as well as the "soft tone" of the statement, Chang declined to comment further.
"This is a politically sensitive issue and we've responded to it only after thorough consideration ... Our stance has clearly been stated in the statement," Chang said.
Meanwhile, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Huang Shui-sheng (黃穗生) said his ministry "objected to" Koizumi's visit because the Chinese people paid a terrible price during the eight years of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Vice chairman of the Council for Cultural Affairs Wu Mi-cha (吳密察), in his capacity as a historian at National Taiwan University, urged the government to express its stance to Japan over Koizumi's visit in a manner that was neither "to humble oneself nor to show disrespect" ( 不卑不亢).
Wu lamented that Taiwanese society has either been "going too far" or been "excessively weak" in facing controversial issues related to its former colonial ruler, including new Japanese textbooks that gloss over Tokyo's actions during the war, and the shrine visit.
Koizumi decided to speed up the visit because the plan to go on the anniversary had generated outrage from Japan's neighbors and concern among members of his own ruling coalition.
The last prime minister to go on the anniversary was Yasuhiro Nakasone in 1985. Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto went to Yasukuni on his birthday in July 1996, but the furor abroad was so intense he canceled subsequent visits while in office.
Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895 until 1945. Some of the 35,000 Taiwanese who fought for Japan during the war are worshipped in the shrine, including former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) elder brother Lee Teng-chin (李登欽), who was killed in the Philippines in 1942.
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