PM ASO'S YASUKUNI OFFERING DRAWS STATEMENTS OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 000958 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/J E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/22/2019 TAGS: PREL CH JA SUBJECT: PM ASO'S YASUKUNI OFFERING DRAWS STATEMENTS OF CONCERN FROM PRC AND ROK TOKYO 00000958 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: CDA James P. Zumwalt for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's offering to Yasukuni Shrine ON April 21 has drawn reactions that are more muted than expected from China and South Korea ahead of the PM's trip to China April 29. Some observers speculate that Aso's decision to send an offering but not visit the controversial Shrine was meant to attract conservative votes prior to the upcoming election, while not alienating Asian neighbors. He appears to have calculated the PRC reaction correctly as his trip to China remains ON schedule. END SUMMARY ¶2. (C) PM Aso unexpectedly made an offering ON April 21 to Yasukuni Shrine, roughly one week before his two-day trip to China. Aso presented a Japanese "sakaki" evergreen cutting at the START of the Spring Festival "to pay respects to those who lost their lives fighting for the country," the Prime Minister said. PM Aso sent the offering under the title "Prime Minister" and paid for the gift himself, but he did not visit the shrine -- the place of enshrinement for Japan's war dead, including several Class-A war criminals. Aso made a similar gesture during the Shrine's Autumn Festival last October. Speaking to reporters in the evening after sending the offering, Aso said that "people should express gratitude and respect toward the people who sacrificed their sacred lives for the country." ¶3. (C) Eighty-seven members of a nonpartisan Diet league that supports Yasukuni visits paid respects at the Shrine the day after the Prime Minister's offering. The delegation comprised several sub-Cabinet officials, including three state secretaries and seven parliamentary vice ministers, ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members such as LDP Election Strategy Council Chairman Makoto Koga and LDP faction leader Nobutaka Machimura, and lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the People's New Party. ¶4. (C) Koga, whose father was killed in World War II, heads the association of family members of the war dead. An advocate of removing the Class-A war criminals from Yasukuni, he has been unsuccessful in persuading the families -- particularly the daughter of former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo -- to agree. ¶5. (C) Embassy contacts broadly agree that, although longstanding issues and irritants exist between the two sides, bilateral ties have improved markedly since the tenure of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who annually acted ON his campaign promise to visit Yasukuni Shrine. They add that PM Aso has helped his own cause by keeping a heretofore ambiguous position ON prime ministerial visits to the Shrine. Aso told reporters ON April 21 that it is "natural to take into account various situations" when deciding to visit, and an aide reportedly added the next day that PM Aso did not intend to pay homage at Yasukuni during his term as premier. Aso has visited Yasukuni in the past, from his childhood to his stint in the Cabinet as Internal Affairs and Communications Minister during 2003-05, but regional neighbors appear willing to tolerate Aso's past actions. His reported offering during last year's Shrine Autumn Festival received little fanfare. ¶6. (C) PM Aso appears to have judged regional reactions correctly so far. Beijing and Seoul have provided only statements of regret and disappointment, but no action. A Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesperson publicly expressed China's "grave concern and dissatisfaction" and warned that "any erroneous moves by Japan will produce a negative impact TOKYO 00000958 002.2 OF 002 on bilateral relations." The spokesperson had earlier relayed China's hope that Japan "will earnestly FOLLOW efforts to overcome political barriers between the two countries." South Korea's government spokesperson called Aso's gesture "extremely regrettable." As of April 24, the Prime Minister was still scheduled to go to China ON April 29 for meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. ¶7. (C) PM Aso's gesture may be a way to attract conservative voters in the run-up to what will be an intensely contested Lower House election, according to media commentators. It is unlikely the Prime Minister will gain any political capital from the offering however, given the small number of voters for whom Yasukuni is an important issue and the fact that PM Aso's conservative views are already well known. ZUMWALT