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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Prime minister and foreign minister are to blame for postponed summit: Ichida

A summit between Japan, China, and South Korea scheduled on the sidelines of the East Asia summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus Japan, China, and South Korea has been postponed at the Chinese request.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on December 4 explained that it decided to postpone the summit "in view of current circumstances and conditions." It also expressed hope that "cooperation between the three countries will achieve stable development by removing obstacles."

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi at a news conference on December 5 said that the Japanese government is to blame for its attitude toward Yasukuni Shrine which glorifies the war of aggression.

Ichida stated, "Behind the postponement lies what the prime minister and the foreign minister said and did. Their speeches and deeds deny the principle that marked the start of a democratic Japan and the rest of the world after the war."

Ichida stated it is obvious that the immediate cause of the postponement of the talks is the Japanese prime minister's five consecutive visits to Yasukuni Shrine (the 5th on October 17, 2005) and Foreign Minister Aso's outrageous remarks.

Ichida stressed, "If Japan is to develop good foreign relations, particularly with Asian countries, the prime minister must stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine and clearly admit Japan's war of aggression was a mistake."

Asked to comment on the prime minister's remark that the Yasukuni question is "no longer a diplomatic issue," Ichida said, "It shows the prime minister's shallow understanding of the question that Japan did wrong by waging a war of aggression."

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Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro on the same day said, "If China wants to postpone it, I don't mind. Yasukuni cannot be used as a diplomatic negotiating card."

Answering reporters' questions, Koizumi maintained, "The Yasukuni visits are not the problem. Critics are wrong."
- Akahata, December 6, 2005