Abe shows his cloven hoof

Hawkish Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finally showed his cloven hoof. He celebrated the first anniversary of his second premiership by insulting Japan’s neighbors and the rest of the world.???

Special report: China-Japan Relations

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His visit to Yasukuni Shrine on Thursday betrayed his decision to confront righteousness, conscience and truth.

His Yasukuni pilgrimage was a declaration of deliberate provocation.

He has chosen to place Japan in opposition to China and South Korea when his country has damaged its relations with the two neighbors to a record low point.

He has chosen to throw down the gauntlet on the international documents settling Japan’s war responsibilities during its colonization and World War II.

At the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, 28 Japanese leaders were charged with Class A crimes, and more than 5,700 with Classes B and C crimes. Fourteen of the Class A criminals, including the wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, are enshrined at Yasukuni, which makes the shrine a place that sensible politicians should not visit.

But Abe has chosen to salute his country’s war criminals. He has pledged to boost patriotism among his countrymen in a way that plays down or denies Japan’s war atrocities in WWII.

Abe has chosen to put his country in isolation.