Enlarge imageBy George Nishiyama and Benjamin Kang Lim
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologised on Friday for Japan’s wartime atrocities and said he would meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in a bid to repair ties that are at their worst in over three decades.
Koizumi, speaking after making the apology in front of world leaders at a multilateral forum, said he would meet Hu on Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta.
"Nothing is produced by antagonism," Koizumi told travelling reporters. "Friendship is most important. I would like to hold the meeting from that perspective."
Asked by reporters if he would meet Hu on Saturday, Koizumi said: "I’ve been told that we will hold it tomorrow." Officials were still trying to arrange a time for the meeting, he said.
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Hu, in a speech at the summit, made no mention of Japan, but pledged China would be a champion of the Third World.
Relations between the two Asian powerhouses have been at the worst in decades following violent anti-Japan demonstrations in China over school history textbooks which critics say sugarcoat its wartime history and other irritants.
The spat puts at risk economic ties worth $212 billion (111 billion pounds) in annual trade.
Addressing the gathering of leaders from 100 Asian and African countries including Hu, Koizumi earlier apologised for the "tremendous damage and suffering" caused by Japan.
"In the past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations," Koizumi said at the opening session of the summit.
"Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility," he said, adding the Japanese people have engraved in their minds "feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology."
The apology mirrors past statements by Tokyo but such an admission in front of foreign leaders is rare.
SHRINE VISIT
Thousands have demonstrated in cities across China the past three weekends in violent protests against the Japanese textbooks and against Tokyo’s campaign for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.
While not commenting on the textbooks in question, Japanese delegation spokesman Akira Chiba said 99.9 percent of Japan’s schools used different books.
But in a development that could stir fresh outrage in China, 80 Japanese members of parliament turned out on Friday to pay their respects to Japan’s war dead at a Tokyo shrine that has become a symbol of the animosity.
A spokesman for the group said the visits to the Yasukuni Shrine were intended to honour the dead and pray for peace, not to anger China or South Korea, both of which were victims of Japanese military aggression.
Chinese media have yet to comment on Friday’s shrine visit. But the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily and other newspapers published a police warning against illegal behaviour in anti-Japan marches, saying anyone who took part would be "resolutely punished".
The dispute has unnerved Asian countries and overshadowed the summit in Jakarta, being held to commemorate the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, which gathered former colonised nations from the two continents for the first time.
"The development of mutual friendship would be beneficial to both nations. Friendship between Japan and China is meaningful not only to Asia, but to the international community as a whole," Koizumi told reporters.
Ties with China chilled markedly after Koizumi took office in 2001 and began annual visits to Yasukuni. He has not visited yet this year.
BID FOR U.N. SEAT
Koizumi told the summit that Japan planned to double its official development assistance to African nations over the next three years and provide the bulk of it in grant aid.
Analysts have said Japan sees increasing its foreign aid to poor countries as a way to bolster its bid for a seat on the U.N. Security Council, which China steadfastly opposes.
Mixed signals have emanated from Beijing as the government seeks to rein in anti-Japan protests while insisting they were triggered by Tokyo’s refusal to deal with its past.
One of the big areas of contention between the two nations has been disputed waters in the East China Sea.
On Friday, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Japan was set to agree to China’s proposal to discuss joint development of gas fields in the region.
Japanese Trade Minister Shoichi Nakagawa said he was not aware that China had made such a proposal, but he did not rule out joint development.
