Koizumi wants friendly China-Japan ties
(Reuters/China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-28 06:12

Koizumi's comments came after an opinion survey published on Wednesday in which two-thirds of Japanese who replied said they didn't trust China.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents to an opinion poll by the Nihon Keizai business daily said China couldn't be trusted, far outnumbering the 14 percent who said it could be trusted.

Japan's wrong words and actions toward the issues of Taiwan and history are the major factors leading to the poor sentiment between the people of China and Japan, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang Tuesday when commenting on the result of the survey.

Qin urged the Japanese side to do something conducive to the friendship of the two peoples and take concrete measures to change the situation.

Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao met in Jakarta on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa summit in Indonesia in April, pulling relations between the two Asian powers back from the brink.

But bilateral ties took another hit in October when Koizumi made his latest visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni shrine, where some World War II war criminals are honored along with Japan's 2.5 million war dead, sparking angry protests from China and South Korea.

Resentment lingers in South Korea over Japan's harsh colonial rule of the Korean peninsula in 1910-1945.

YASUKUNI, LDP ELECTION

Asked whether he would visit Yasukuni during Japan's New Year's holidays from January 1-3, Koizumi stopped short of giving a direct answer but seemed to play down the possibility.

"Please everyone, take time and rest over the New Year. Work starts on the fourth," he said, adding that he had a news conference and a visit to Ise shrine, a separate Shinto shrine, planned on that day.

Koizumi, who says his annual visits to Yasukuni are intended to pay respects to the war dead and to pray for peace, visited Yasukuni on New Year's Day in 2004.

Besides Japan's ties with China and South Korea, another focal point in 2006 is the question of who will emerge as successor to Koizumi.

Koizumi has said he does not intend to stay on as prime minister when his term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) expires next September.

"I think a person who will take over the reform path that I have pushed forward up to now would be desirable," said Koizumi, without mentioning any specific names.

A public opinion poll published on Tuesday showed that Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, known for his tough stance toward China and North Korea, has a huge lead over other contenders to become Japan's next prime minister.

Forty-three percent of respondents to a poll by the Nihon Keizai newspaper said Abe was the "most suitable" to become next prime minister.