The visit to Cheong Wa Dae by two influential officials from China and Japan, Wednesday, illustrated the current diplomatic landscape in Northeast Asia.
Tang Jiaxuan, a former Chinese State Councilor, met with President Park Geun―hye, and later revealed that leaders of the two countries would hold a summit ― their fifth meeting in 20 months ― on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Beijing next month.
In contrast, Shotaro Yachi, national security advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the ``main architect” of Abe’s foreign policy, did not get to meet President Park. Instead, he received an earful from his South Korean counterparts that Tokyo should show more sincerity in acknowledging historical wrongdoings.
This suggests that President Park and Prime Minister Abe are unlikely to meet
one-on-one in November either, just as they have failed to so since taking office almost simultaneously early last year. If Abe actually wants to have a summit with Park, as he has often claimed, the Japanese leader only has himself to blame for the impasse. President Park has long suggested Japan address the comfort women issue, but Tokyo has not.
The Abe administration has gone the opposite direction in fact, stepping up efforts to deny that imperial Japan coerced Korean and other foreign women to serve in military brothels during World War II. Given the increasingly wider gap between Tokyo’s words and its actions, it is hard not to question Japan’s sincerity in wanting to improve relations with Seoul. The Abe government’s zeal for historical whitewash is intensifying, not weakening.
Prime Minister Abe might be thinking his South Korean counterpart has few other options but to respond positively to a meeting request, especially after Chinese President Xi Jinping hosts the Japanese leader at the APEC. Tokyo can also ask Washington to ramp up pressure on Seoul, citing the need for a trilateral alliance against China and North Korea. One can’t help but ask, then: what are Premier Abe’s real intentions ― a summit for its own sake or a genuine improvement in the strained relationship between the two countries?
Ostensible, temporary fence―mending between Seoul and Tokyo can go up in smoke at anytime unless Japan truly addresses its past.
Japanese officials complain that Korea is returning to its status as a vassal state of China, with Beijing going all out to restore its leader status in Asia. However, pushing Korea closer to China are Japan’s political leaders. In longing for Japan’s military past and justifying its history of colonizing and invading neighboring countries, it alienates those nations further.
In addition, if the United States continues to side with Japan as a check against resurgent China, it will only accelerate Seoul’s approach toward Beijing. The U.S. ― who virtually shaped the East Asian diplomatic order as it is now ― can ill afford to remain a by ― stander, especially considering the historical wrangling in this part of the world.
The "Asian paradox” where Korea, China and Japan come closer economically, but move further away politically needs to end. To normalize the situation in this region, the U.S. should recognize Japan is not the only country that must think about its past.