News Analysis: Remorse or remilitarization-- what will Abe trumpet at Asian-African Summit?

what will Abe trumpet at Asian-African Summit?

TOKYO, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Indonesia from Tuesday to attend the two-day Asian- African Summit in Jakarta starting the following day, during which he's widely expected to reference the nation's determination to further help develop the prosperity of the two continents.

"The prime minister will express Japan's resolve to contribute more proactively to the development and prosperity of Asia and Africa," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference Friday.

Also known as the Bandung Conference, the summit forms part of the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference, the first installment of which resulted in a 10-point "declaration on promotion of world peace and cooperation," incorporating the principles of the current United Nations Charter.

The declaration largely focuses on issues of peace and rules pertaining to a country's right to collective self-defense (CSD), one of which specifically states that CSD shouldn't be used at the behest of, or in particular interest of a "big power."

But according to sources close to the matter, Japan's leader will attempt to walk an ambiguous tight rope between trumpeting the virtues of becoming a more "proactive contributor to (global) peace," which is an Abe-led move to see Japan's military bolstered and freed from its constitutional restraints, effectively meaning the recasting and remilitarization of Japan, and test-running his statement in the run up to the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

While the specifics remain to be seen, Abe, while in Jakarta, will simultaneously denounce war by delivering some form of message of "remorse," while also vaunting his contradictory plans for Japan's military to be a bigger global player.

According to NHK, Abe "plans to express 'remorse over the great war of the past' at the Asia-Africa Summit in Indonesia next week, after which he will review Japan's postwar international contributions and express his thoughts on ongoing contributions to Asian and African peace and prosperity."

But sources close to the matter believe that, the prime minister's speech at the Asian-African Summit next week will not include key references as mentioned in the internationally- accepted 1995 Murayama Statement and 2005 Koizumi Statement, which specifically mentioned the terms "colonial rule and aggression," " deep remorse," or "heartfelt apology."

During the April 2005 Asia-Africa Summit, then-Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi said, "In the past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations."

"Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility," Koizumi said, adding that Japan had, "feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology always engraved in mind."

The content of this speech was repeated verbatim in August of that year by Koizumi during his statement on the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII.

The prime minister choosing to omit these fundamentally important references may be taken as a harbinger of this summer's 70th anniversary war statement and thus will almost certainly draw the ire of Japan's neighbors who suffered immeasurably at the hands of Japan's Imperial Army during WWII, as well as the wider international community.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga who serves as Abe's top spokesperson has told the press that due to time constraints in Jakarta, Abe will be unable to talk at great length or in too much detail about Japan's "remorse."

But other government officials have concurred and stated to local media that at next week's Asian-African Summit, it will be " very unlikely" that Abe's address will include references to " aggression," or "deep remorse over colonial rule."

In fact, speaking before an experts' panel of advisors on his upcoming war statement on Friday, Abe said that Japan needs to " regard its path since World War II with pride and serenity," with one of his advisors stating that the path Japan has taken since the war has been based on a heart-felt and full-fledged reflection and that Japan has made a 180-degree turn towards pacifism.

The tone of the meeting Friday, and that of comments made by senior government officials recently, suggest that Abe, a known revisionist, as has been widely reported, may be looking to shift the focus of his upcoming war statements from Japan's heinous deeds during the war, to Japan's postwar rehabilitation, which, ironically, today sees Japan recasting its military and readying itself for encounters at home and abroad. Endi