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Japan's PM unlikely to visit Yasukuni on August 15

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-05 15:48

TOKYO -- Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda implied Tuesday that he will not visit the Tokyo-based Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, the anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II.

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In response to the question as to whether he is to visit the war-linked shrine, where 14 Class A war criminals are honored, Fukuda said "Look back on my behavior in the past."  

On a separate occasion, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura answered a similar question, saying that he did not visit the shrine when he was Japan's foreign minister and "that is the answer."

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo had hit a low during Junichiro Koizumi's tenure as Japan's prime minister because of his persistent visits to the Yasukuni Shrine that honors Japanese World War II criminals.

Shinzo Abe put the relations on track with his "ice-breaking" visit to China in 2006 immediately after being sworn in as Japan's prime minister.

Bilateral relations were in a mess under Koizumi, but another turnaround was made after Fukuda took office