Koizumi’s Political Jujitsu

I’ve was going to reserve comment on Koizumi’s most recent apology for Japan’s wartime actions as MutantFrog basically said all I wanted to say. Also, I’m more interested in the comments to be read at Marmot or elsewhere as the typically infantile and irrational netizens fly off the handle with shouts that Koizumi wasn’t sincere. I’ve now seen enough to make a preliminary comment. More may follow, but I’m pretty exhausted with this issue.

From the BBC:

“Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility.” The wording repeats previous Japanese apologies – but analysts say the international setting gives the statement added weight.

Unsurprisingly, I see no evidence that the Chinese or the Koreans are taking it seriously. Check out this Korean cartoon, with an English explanation. China has made some positive noises. But politically, this is a very deft move for Koizumi. People can no longer say that Japan’s refusal to apologize is the issue (even though this was a major repeat of what Japan has already said). Koizumi hasn’t met with any Chinese President, Zhong Zemin or Hu Jintao, since becoming Prime Minister in 2001, but said he looked forward to meeting Hu at the current development summit in Jakarta. Beijing has yet to agree—they have so far refused to let the two leaders meet—but all eyes are now on them, not Japan. The timing was also crutial, coming not just on the heels of the recent anti-Japan protests in but also just hours after 80 Japanese politicians visited the Yasukuni Shrine.

Let’s face it, the speech was designed to stop the current friction from escalating and stop China from opposing Japan for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. Koizumi has put the ball in China’s court, and the pressure’s off Japan. Nothing has changed in Japan’s position.

On a similar yet unrelated note, Ampontan at Japundit has a wicked post on bad journalism in Japan (of which there is plenty in the domestic English language press). In doing so, he explains why giving Korea the disputed islets in the Japan Sea (as advocated by the Asahi Shinbun) won’t just make the problems between the two countries disapear.

UPDATE: Great albeit dated article in the Economist.

UPDATE II: Stratfor.com on the apology:

Koizumi said Japan’s past “colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering” to the people of Asia, and that Tokyo’s “feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology” underlie Japan’s current “principle of resolving all matters by peaceful means, without recourse to use of force.” Koizumi then called on the leaders to support the expansion of the U.N. Security Council, on which Japan is seeking a permanent seat.

That, my friends, is politics.

UPDATE III: Marmot hasn’t even mentioned the apology yet, but there’s already an off-topic discussion ongoing in this unrelated post.