Koizumi apologises for Japan’s wartime past

JAKARTA - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has apologised for Japan's wartime past and said he wanted to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in a bid to repair ties between the Asian giants, at their worst in over 30 years.

Koizumi, speaking after making the apology in front of world leaders at a multilateral forum, said he would meet Hu on Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta.

However, China said it could not confirm the talks would take place.

Koizumi's spokesman told a late night news conference that both sides wanted the meeting to take place, but added officials were having problems scheduling a time.

"Nothing is produced by antagonism," Koizumi told reporters.

"Friendship is most important. I would like to hold the meeting from that perspective."

Asked if he would meet Hu on Saturday, Koizumi said: "I've been told that we will hold it tomorrow."

But Kong Quan, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a news conference in Jakarta: "We can't confirm (it). The Foreign Ministries of the two countries are still talking."

Relations between the two Asian powerhouses have been at the worst in decades following violent anti-Japan demonstrations in China over school history textbooks which critics say sugarcoat its wartime history and other irritants.

The spat puts at risk economic ties worth US$212 billion ($294.60 billion) in annual trade.

Addressing the gathering of leaders from 100 Asian and African countries including Hu, Koizumi earlier apologised for the pain inflicted by Japan.

"In the past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations," he said.

"Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility," he said, adding the Japanese people have engraved in their minds "feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology."

The apology mirrors past statements by Tokyo but such an admission in front of foreign leaders is rare.

"We welcome that he made known his stance... More important, he should follow it up with action," Kong, the Chinese spokesman, said without elaborating.

Thousands have demonstrated in cities across China the past three weekends in violent protests against the Japanese textbooks and against Tokyo's campaign for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

In a sign of how easily ties can be affected, a Japanese cabinet minister and 80 other parliamentarians paid their respects on Friday at a war shrine that has become a symbol of the animosity, prompting an angry response from Beijing.

"Sino-Japanese relations are facing a grim situation, and we express our strong dissatisfaction for some Japanese political personnel's negative behaviour in disregarding the general situation," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement in Beijing.

Ties with China chilled markedly after Koizumi took office in 2001 and began annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo. He has not visited yet this year.

But the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily and other newspapers also published a police warning against illegal behaviour in anti-Japan marches, saying anyone who took part would be "resolutely punished".

The dispute has unnerved Asian countries and overshadowed the summit in Jakarta, being held to commemorate the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung, which gathered former colonised nations from the two continents for the first time.

Koizumi told the summit that Japan planned to double its official development assistance to African nations over the next three years and provide the bulk of it in grant aid.

Analysts have said Japan sees increasing its foreign aid to poor countries as a way to bolster its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council, which China steadfastly opposes.

A Japanese official quoted UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is also in Jakarta, as telling Koizumi that he was impressed with the prime minister's speech and that he hoped it would lead to an easing of tensions.

Hu, in a speech at the summit, made no mention of Japan, but pledged China would be a champion of the Third World.

- REUTERS