The prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, will not attend Victory Day events in Beijing next month to mark the end of the second world war, partly in protest against China’s military build-up in regional waters, Japanese media said.
The chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said Abe had decided against attending commemorative events around 3 September – the day China marks the success of its “war of resistance against Japanese aggression” – so he could oversee the passage of controversial security legislation at home.
The upper house of Japan’s parliament is debating a series of Abe-inspired bills that would expand the role of the country’s military, including fighting overseas for the first time since the end of the war.
But the Sankei newspaper quoted official sources as saying Abe was also concerned that his presence in Beijing could be interpreted as accepting China’s increasingly aggressive activity near disputed island territories in the region.
China has been condemned for building artificial islands in areas of the South China Sea that are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries.
It is also embroiled in a simmering dispute with Japan over ownership of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, called the Senkakus by Japan and the Diaoyu by China.
Abe and other world leaders had been invited to attend the anniversary events, which will include a spectacular Victory Day parade in Tiananmen Square, featuring 12,000 troops, conventional and nuclear missiles and more than 100 aircraft.
Officials in Beijing said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and at least 10 other leaders would attend the event on 3 September, one day after Japan formally surrendered to the allies aboard the USS Missouri in 1945.
But most western leaders, including the US president, Barack Obama, and the British prime minister, David Cameron, are expected to shun the event. The South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, will reportedly take part in a ceremony to mark the anniversary, but has not decided whether or not to attend the parade.
Large swaths of Beijing went into shutdown at the weekend as tanks, missile launchers and thousands of troops poured into the city centre for a rehearsal.
The chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said Abe had decided against attending commemorative events around 3 September – the day China marks the success of its “war of resistance against Japanese aggression” – so he could oversee the passage of controversial security legislation at home.
The upper house of Japan’s parliament is debating a series of Abe-inspired bills that would expand the role of the country’s military, including fighting overseas for the first time since the end of the war.
But the Sankei newspaper quoted official sources as saying Abe was also concerned that his presence in Beijing could be interpreted as accepting China’s increasingly aggressive activity near disputed island territories in the region.
China has been condemned for building artificial islands in areas of the South China Sea that are also claimed by Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries.
It is also embroiled in a simmering dispute with Japan over ownership of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, called the Senkakus by Japan and the Diaoyu by China.
Abe and other world leaders had been invited to attend the anniversary events, which will include a spectacular Victory Day parade in Tiananmen Square, featuring 12,000 troops, conventional and nuclear missiles and more than 100 aircraft.
Officials in Beijing said the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and at least 10 other leaders would attend the event on 3 September, one day after Japan formally surrendered to the allies aboard the USS Missouri in 1945.
But most western leaders, including the US president, Barack Obama, and the British prime minister, David Cameron, are expected to shun the event. The South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, will reportedly take part in a ceremony to mark the anniversary, but has not decided whether or not to attend the parade.
Large swaths of Beijing went into shutdown at the weekend as tanks, missile launchers and thousands of troops poured into the city centre for a rehearsal.
Seems idiotic for Japan to go for what is essentially the party to celebrate their loss.
