Japan's Abe visited Yasukuni in April
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-04 06:57
Shinzo Abe, frontrunner to replace Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi,
made a pilgrimage earlier this year to a Tokyo war shrine seen by critics as a
symbol of Japan's militaristic past, media reports said.
Japanese Chief Cabinet
Secretary Shinzo Abe speaks at the Tokyo-Beijing Forum sponsored by China
Daily, Peking University and the Japanese think tank Genron NPO in Tokyo
August 3, 2006. [chinadaily.com.cn] | Abe, now
chief cabinet secretary, visited Yasukuni Shrine in April, Kyodo news agency and
other media reported on Friday.
Abe has backed Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni, which have angered China and
South Korea, but has not said whether he would do the same if he succeeded
Koizumi, who steps down in September.
Tokyo's ties with Beijing and Seoul have chilled since Koizumi took office in
2001 and began visiting the shrine, where World War Two leaders convicted as war
criminals by an Allied tribunal are honoured along with Japan's 2.5 million war
dead.
So far, Koizumi has avoided going to the shrine on August 15, the emotive
anniversary of Japan's defeat in the war, but speculation is rife that he will
do so this year.
Koizumi has said he will step down in September as leader of his Liberal
Democratic Party, and therefore as prime minister.
Abe routinely leads public opinion polls as his likely and preferred
successor.
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