Disappointment and mistrust arose in South Korea and China after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe broke with a 20-year tradition in his Aug. 15 speech at a ceremony remembering those who died in World War II.

Although Abe did not visit Yasukuni Shrine, which memorializes Japan's war dead along with 14 Class-A war criminals, his speech at the government-sponsored ceremony to mark the end of the war for Japan made no mention of the wartime damage inflicted on Asian nations that had been included in previous Aug. 15 speeches given by Japanese prime ministers since Morihiro Hosokawa in 1993.

In Seoul a ceremony was held on Aug. 15 celebrating liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

"Japanese politicians should demonstrate courageous leadership that would allow for the healing of past wounds," South Korean President Park Geun-hye said in her speech.

Dissatisfaction in South Korea toward Japanese politicians over their historical understanding has heightened to unprecedented levels.

Fueling the fire was a comment made by Abe in April in the Diet in which he said that the definition of military aggression had not been settled by scholars. Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso also visited Yasukuni around that time.

The Abe administration’s move to amend the Constitution has further raised concerns.

Expressions of that dissatisfaction surfaced over the past few days. On Aug. 15, South Korean opposition lawmakers attempted a protest action against the Abe administration at Yasukuni, while a day earlier a group of ruling party lawmakers landed on Takeshima, known in South Korea as Dokdo. Sovereignty over the islets is disputed between the two countries.

Park was compelled to mention Japanese politicians in her speech because of her personal convictions about standing firm on historical issues as well as the growing public opposition to what Japanese politicians have said and done.

At the same time, while many South Korean government officials feel the worsening of bilateral relations is mainly the fault of Japan and hold a deep distrust toward the country, they also want to avoid deepening the rift between the two nations.

In her speech, Park avoided using extremely harsh words to criticize Japan and did not mention Dokdo or the "comfort women" who provided sex to Imperial Japanese military personnel before and during World War II.

She tried to draw a line between Japanese politicians and the public, saying, "There has been a spreading of trust between the peoples of the two nations."

A South Korean government source said about the speech, "It was a future-oriented and forward-looking message."

To avoid escalating the confrontation between Japan and South Korea, South Korean government officials asked the opposition party to refrain from going to Yasukuni. Officials have also passed on feelings of gratitude for the efforts made this summer to rescue South Korean trekkers from the mountains in Nagano Prefecture.

Some within the South Korean government said the fact that Abe and other influential Cabinet ministers did not visit Yasukuni on Aug. 15 could serve as a catalyst for improving diplomatic relations.

However, the failure of Abe to include a mention about remorse for the wartime damage inflicted on Asian nations by Japan led to a further spread of disappointment and concern within the South Korean government.

One South Korean government source said, "South Koreans will think that represented his true feelings. It has again become difficult to take advantage of the forward-looking elements that were contained in the president's speech."

A spokesperson for the South Korean Foreign Ministry released a statement on Aug. 15 that criticized the visit of three Abe Cabinet members to Yasukuni on Aug. 15 as "lamentable."

The same day the Japanese government also protested the landing of South Korean lawmakers on Takeshima.

The Aug. 16 editions of major South Korean newspapers blasted Abe's speech.

Regarding Abe, the Dong-A Ilbo said, "He discarded his last piece of conscience."

The paper pointed out that even Junichiro Koizumi, who made repeated visits to Yasukuni as prime minister, included feelings of apology to Asian nations in the speeches he gave on Aug. 15.

The JoongAng Ilbo said Abe "conspicuously revealed his 'true feelings.' "

The paper added that Abe's speech essentially negated the core elements of the 1995 statement, which expressed an apology for colonial rule and military aggression by Japan, issued in the name of then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama.

CHINESE CRITICISM CONVEYED TO AMBASSADOR

Meanwhile, in Beijing on Aug. 15, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin summoned Ambassador Masato Kitera and expressed "a strong protest and severe criticism" over the visits to Yasukuni by Abe Cabinet ministers.

Liu told Kitera, "(The visits) hurt the feelings of the people of China and Asia."

In April, when Aso and three other Abe Cabinet ministers visited Yasukuni, the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned Kitera, but no announcement was made of that fact.

Sources knowledgeable about bilateral ties said the ministry may have announced the Aug. 15 summons in order to demonstrate to the Chinese public that the government had taken a harsh stance against Japan, as public opinion toward Japan regarding the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands and the historical understanding issues has been worsening.

Major media in China was highly critical of Abe’s speech. On Aug. 15, China Central Television repeatedly carried reports about the "rightward tilt" on the part of Japan and also ran a report that said Abe avoided taking responsibility for inflicting wartime damage.

The Global Times, an affiliate of the People's Daily and which is known for its ardent patriotic tone, included a comment by a Chinese specialist on Japan who said, "There has emerged a dangerous change in the attitude toward history and the war on the part of the Japanese government."

A high-ranking Chinese Foreign Ministry official also expressed concern about Abe's lack of mention about the wartime damage inflicted on Asian nations and said, "In terms of the historical understanding issue, there was nothing that would have satisfied the peoples of the nations, including China, on which wartime damage was inflicted."

"It is a major change (from previous administrations). It warrants attention when thinking about the future of the China-Japan relationship," a ministry official said.

The official added, "In a word, there is only disappointment toward what Japan is doing now."

The activities of China Coast Guard ships in waters near the Senkakus have become more frequent recently. On Aug. 7, ships intruded in Japanese territorial waters for 28 hours, the longest amount of time to date. The state-run Xinhua News Agency said, "It was because a ship belonging to Japanese rightists had illegally entered territorial waters."

A Chinese researcher knowledgeable about China-Japan relations said the moves by the China Coast Guard were intended to send a message to Japan before Aug. 15.

At the same time, the Chinese government has also shown a desire to avoid unexpected confrontations around the Senkakus as well as any acts that might further aggravate anti-Japanese sentiment and further reduce the diplomatic options available in dealing with Japan. Beijing also does not want to be blamed by the international community for worsening relations with Japan.

Strict security measures were implemented on Aug. 15 around the Japanese Embassy and consulates in China.

Three men showed up in front of the consulate in Shanghai with a banner that said, "Destroy Japan's militarism." However, they immediately left the area after public security officers talked to them.

Ships belonging to the Hong Kong-based Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, which sent members to land on the Senkakus in August 2012, were not even allowed to set sail this year.

A number of anti-Japanese activists in China said the Chinese government had applied pressure on the group to prevent any ships from leaving the harbor.

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This article was written by Akira Nakano and Akihiko Kaise in Seoul, Atsushi Okudera in Beijing and Kentaro Koyama in Guangzhou.

This news was published on August 16, 2013.

Source: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201308160064