Japanese remorse hypocritical

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi delivered a "remorseful" speech during the Asia-Africa Summit on April 23. In reality, it was nothing but crocodile tears.

While he was delivering his speech, his fellow party members and his ministers were marching down to the Yasukuni Shrine to honor their war heroes and Class A war criminals, those who were most responsible for the atrocities perpetrated on Asian countries during World War II.

We applaud Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi's courage in canceling a scheduled meeting with Koizumi because of his persistent comments that he would keep visiting the Yasukuni Shrine prior to meeting with Wu Yi. The cruelty of the atrocities perpetrated by Japanese imperial soldiers while occupying Indonesia was far worse than anything Indonesia had seen during the previous 300 years of Dutch colonization.

Koizumi seems unable to differentiate between war heroes and war criminals. The current Japan-China problems actually affect all of Japan's neighboring countries. The Japanese government has never wanted to admit the comfort women issue or pay compensation to the victims. Meanwhile Koizumi has visited Yasukuni to pay tribute to those Class A war criminals every year.

If you have followed three decades of trade negotiations between the U.S. and Japan, you will come to know the Japanese character: They will only budge at the last minute when the U.S. presents an ultimatum. Otherwise, the Japanese will keep bowing, scraping and apologizing, while continuing to act in the same old way. It is only when you bang their head against the wall that they start to realize that they will need to change to avoid the pain.

Koizumi can decide to visit Yasukuni again, if he wants. But it will be us, Japan's neighbors, that decide whether it is appropriate for Japan to become a permanent member of the Security Council. Until such time as Koizumi and other Japanese political leaders learn the difference between "war hero" and "war criminal", it would be best for Japan to continue playing its present role: The American poodle in Asia.

HARIJANTO SOEPANGKAT, West Java