Japan foreign minister leaves China after failing to get
apology
Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura ended a two-day visit
to China during which he failed to get an apology for widespread
anti-Japanese protests.
"Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura concluded his visit
to China and left here Tuesday morning," the Xinhua news agency
reported.
China said Monday its ties with Japan were at a 30-year low and
repeated it would not apologise for the series of protests after a
second day of talks between Machimura and Chinese Foreign Minister
Li Zhaoxing.
Li had told Machimura that China hoped Japan would take "concrete
actions" to face up to its history of aggression in China to
improve bilateral relations.
Machimura retorted by expressing "deep regret" over the rallies,
which caused damage to Japanese diplomatic missions, restaurants
and businesses in major Chinese cities.
Ties between East Asia's two most powerful nations have rapidly
approached a nadir after Japan approved a nationalist textbook that
glossed over wartime atrocities.
They have been further ruffled by Japan's bid for a permanent seat
on the UN Security Council.
Amid the tension a Japanese court Tuesday rejected a compensation
lawsuit filed by 10 Chinese survivors of Japanese atrocities
including the 1937 Nanjing massacre.
The decision by the Tokyo High Court is consistent with repeated
rulings in Japan, which says any compensation for World War II
crimes is a bilateral issue between countries rather than a case an
individual can bring before the courts.
The Tokyo High Court refused to hear an appeal by the women, whose
case had already been dismissed by a district court. They can still
go to the Supreme Court.
Plaintiffs left the courtroom holding a banner that read, "Unjust
verdict."
The plaintiffs had sought 100 million yen (930,000 dollars) for
atrocities including the Nanjing massacre, bombings by Japanese
forces and the "Unit 731" that performed medical experiments on
humans.
Meanwhile Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday
defended his visits to a Tokyo war shrine that have infuriated
China and called for the two countries to understand each other's
views amid a heated row.
Since taking office in 2001, Koizumi has made four pilgrimages to
the Yasukuni shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead
including seven World War II leaders hanged for war crimes.
Asked if his visits to the Shinto sanctuary were a reason for the
massive anti-Japanese protests this month in China, Koizumi said:
"I don't think so."
"I have been visiting in order to pledge not to have war and to
mourn the war dead," Koizumi told reporters.
"Respective countries have respective histories and traditions and
have different opinions," Koizumi said. "It is necessary to deepen
mutual understanding."
Chinese State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, a former foreign minister,
has said Japanese leaders' visits to the Yasukuni shrine were at
the heart of bilateral problems.
Koizumi has visited the shrine annually since taking office, each
time prompting protests by China and South Korea, which were
victims of Japanese aggression.
Koizumi has not yet gone this year or said clearly if he will. His
last pilgrimage was on January 1, 2004.
