Word: koizumi
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...every Japanese politician spoke so intransigently last week. In a statement during a summit of African and Asian leaders in Indonesia, Koizumi expressed "feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology" for the "tremendous damage and suffering" that Japan inflicted on Asian nations during its period of colonial rule and aggression?a clear attempt to mend fences with China. The next day, he and Chinese President Hu Jintao met for 55 minutes on the sidelines of the conference. Hu urged Japan to "seriously reflect" on its wartime history and back up a government apology with action. Koizumi called it a "frank...
...foreign-policy conservative himself, Koizumi has been crucial to the change in mood. Upon taking office in 2001, he embarked on a campaign to build Japan's political, diplomatic and military influence to a level that would match its economic might. In the first Gulf War, Japan sent only money to protect its oil interests. In 2003, however, Koizumi became one of the U.S.'s few staunch supporters in the campaign to oust Saddam Hussein, and put (admittedly noncombatant) boots on the ground in 2004 to support the Iraq reconstruction effort. More recently, Japan has (to the consternation...
...nothing has added urgency to Koizumi's efforts as China's "peaceful rise" to economic and political power. After months of escalation, tensions climaxed two weeks ago when protests in China over Japanese schoolbook revisions that glossed over some of Japan's worst World War II atrocities metastasized into widespread anti-Japanese riots. Newspaper editorials and politicians in Japan began talking ominously about "the lowest point in Sino-Japanese relations in 30 years" and the rising likelihood of an "Asian cold...
...Last week, however, both sides acted to ease the tension. Beijing banned further protests and closed several anti-Japanese websites, while Koizumi offered his apology. But goodwill may be fleeting. Although Koizumi is credited as the architect of Japan's more confrontational foreign policy, he is backed by a growing neoconservative movement in the Diet?a bloc of Young Turk legislators who are both driving and riding the country's rekindled national pride. These are not Japan's traditional patriots, far-right citizens who wear headbands exhorting fealty to the Emperor and who for years have driven their ominous black...
...grievances for political gain. They claim that despite the mild thaw last week, China is, by its own choice, virtually unappeasable. Tomohiko Taniguchi, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., says, "You're looking at a neighbor who doesn't want to accept any apology." Despite Koizumi's words of contrition last weekend (which, according to some counts, would mark the 22nd time Japan has apologized) and the $35 billion of foreign aid Japan has given to China over the years, some of these observers fear that Chinese leaders will continue to play the history card whenever...