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China to add shrine visits in memorial
2006-12-13
A memorial marking the slaughter of Chinese citizens of Nanjing by Japanese troops will soon include exhibits showing visits by Japanese politicians to a Tokyo shrine that honors war dead, state media reported Wednesday. The visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where convicted Japanese war criminals are honored, have become a sticking point in relations between Beijing and Tokyo. Lu Yunfei, Web master for the Patriots League, a nationalist Web site, called the planned exhibition "a silent protest and strong condemnation of the Japanese government." Repeated trips to the shrine by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi severely strained ties, but relations have improved since Shinzo Abe succeeded him in September. Abe has been a strong supporter of Japanese leaders' visits to the shrine and reportedly made a trip there in April. But he has refused to say whether he plans to go as prime minister, as he tries to mend Japan's relations with China and South Korea. Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, said he did not think the new additions to the exhibition -- scheduled to reopen in a year -- were a sign that Beijing was hardening its stance toward Tokyo. Both sides appeared to be making a great effort to avoid doing anything that would "hurt this delicate but still hoped for beginning," Shi said. He said Chinese leaders have been relatively low key in their comments about historical grievances, including the shrine, since Abe met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in October. He said there has also been a marked decrease in the "so-called Japan bashing in the Chinese media" recently. "The memorial in Nanjing has the right to arrange the exhibition the way it wants ... but I cannot see this as some decision made by the top leaders themselves," Shi said. Nanjing suffered a rampage of murder, rape and looting by Japanese troops in 1937 that became known as "The Rape of Nanking," using the name by which the city was known in the West at that time. Historians generally agree the Japanese army slaughtered at least 150,000 civilians and raped tens of thousands of women. China says that as many as 300,000 people were killed. Memorials to the killings are scattered throughout the city, and the main memorial -- built on the site of a mass grave -- is visited by tens of thousands of schoolchildren each year. Exhibits on the shrine visits will be displayed after a major expansion of the memorial hall is completed, curator Zhu Chengshan was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency. Denials from Japanese nationalists and Japanese textbooks that play down Japan's attacks on other Asian countries will also be exhibited, Zhu said. Japanese deputy Cabinet secretary Hiroshi Suzuki said he had not heard of the memorial's plans and declined to comment. Foreign Ministry officials also had no immediate comment. The memorial expansion will cost $61 million, and Xinhua said it would open on Dec. 12, 2007, to mark the 70th anniversary of the massacre. The memorial has had more than 8 million visitors since it opened in 1985. Its gory photos, Japanese army bayonets and exhumed bones are displayed for maximum emotional impact, with captions telling visitors to be outraged and to hold Japan accountable. ___ On the Web: Chinese language site for the Patriots League: http://www.1931-9-18.org/
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