Japan PM sent war shrine offering but did not go

Tokyo, May 8: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made an offering last month to a war shrine that many in Asia consider a symbol of Japan's past militarism, but he stopped short of visiting the memorial out of apparent consideration for China.

Abe's decision to make an offering to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for war dead without going in person appeared aimed at keeping a rapprochement with Beijing on track while giving a nod to his conservative supporters who favour prime ministerial pilgrimages.

Abe offered a potted masakaki tree labelled with the words ''prime minister'' to mark Yasukuni's spring festival, a spokeswoman for the shrine said today, adding he had not attended in person. Japanese media reports said Abe paid the 50,000 yen (0) for the offering out of his own pocket.

Foreign Minister Taro Aso told reporters he thought the gesture would have little impact on Sino-Japanese ties, which have improved markedly since Abe took office last September.

''I don't think it really matters,'' Aso said when asked about possible diplomatic fallout.

Annual visits to the shrine by Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, sent Japan's relations with China to their lowest ebb in decades and angered South Korea. Memories of Japan's military aggression before and during World War Two run deep in the two countries.

The shrine honours several Japanese World War Two leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal, along with millions of war dead.

Abe has sought to improve ties with China, which he visited last October shortly after taking office.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao followed up with a visit to Japan last month, the first by a Chinese leader since 2000.

Abe, who had paid his respects publicly at the shrine before taking office, probably viewed his gesture as a compromise, one diplomatic expert said.

''Basically, he thinks he should make pilgrimages to Yasukuni, but out of consideration for Sino-Japanese relations he has declined to say whether he would do so as prime minister,'' said Tomoyuki Kojima, a specialist in China at Keio University.

China's foreign ministry had no immediate comment.

Abe faces elections in Japan's upper house in July that will test his governing coalition.

Reuters>