China, S. Korea scrap Japan talks after Shrine visit (bloomberg.com) Updated: 2005-10-17 19:49
Yearly Visits
The prime minister has gone to the shrine every year since taking office in
2001. Today he didn't add his title next to Yasukuni's visitor log, unlike in
years past, the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported. He used a government car and
was surrounded by staff and security.
``The Yasukuni Shrine problem is a bottleneck to progress in relations with
the rest of Asia,'' said Seiji Maehara, leader of the opposition Democratic
Party of Japan, in an interview in Tokyo this month. ``The inability to form a
comprehensive relationship for cooperation is a big problem for Mr. Koizumi.''
In Beijing, police cordoned off a street running in front of the Japanese
Embassy today, allowing in reporters and a group of about 10 protesters. The
demonstrators shouted slogans such as ``down with Japanese militarism.''
``Koizumi continues to visit the Yasukuni shrine in a bid to revive Japanese
militarism,'' said Zhang Jianyong, one of the protesters. ``We Chinese are
peaceful by nature but aren't afraid of war if it's necessary to protect us from
Japanese militarism.''
Zhang, who said he represents ordinary Chinese angry about Koizumi's visit,
handed a letter of protest to two embassy officials, who met the protesters
outside of the embassy's gate.
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