Off Balance

摘要

JAPAN AND CHINA JUST CAN'T seem to kiss and make up. When Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Wu Yi ar r ived in Tokyo on May 17, the visit was billed as part of a new move toward reconciliation after recent feuding between Asia's two biggest economies. Needless to say, it didn't work out as the optimists had hoped. Shortly before a scheduled meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Wu suddenly announced that she was heading back to Beijing--an unprecedented affront. The Chinese blamed the mess on Koizumi, who, the day before Wu arrived, suggested that he might yet again visit Yasukuni Shrine--the Tokyo war memorial that, for many of Japan's neighbors, symbolizes the country's unwillingness to assume genuine responsibility for its invasions and atrocities during World War II. Just before she boarded her plane, Wu described relations between the two countries as more "difficult" than they've been since the establishment of diplomatic ties 30 years ago.