TOKYO : On the 77th anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent a gift to a controversial Tokyo shrine for war dead attended by members of his cabinet, acts that are likely to enrage South Korea and China.
With the Yasukuni Shrine seen as a symbol of Japan’s past military aggression, Japan’s relations with China are already strained this year after it conducted unprecedented military exercises around Taiwan in response to US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit there earlier this month.
Several rockets fell into waters within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone during the drills.On the dovish side of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he must avoid irritating international neighbours and partners while also pleasing the party’s more right-wing members, especially following the assassination of party kingpin Shinzo Abe last month.
