After visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on December 26, 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered his 2014 New Year address on January 1, claiming that "the struggle to restore a strong Japan has just begun." Abe's words and actions have sparked extensive apprehension and criticism around the world. Officials and scholars believe they sent a strong militaristic message and are bound to draw worldwide condemnation.

A threat to regional peace

The South Korean Government's position on Japanese political leaders' visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Class A war criminals of World War II along with fallen Japanese soldiers, is "crystal clear," South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Tai Young said on January 2, adding that the visits reflect their erroneous historical view. In response to a question about Japan's "proactive contribution to peace" policy, which Abe advocated in his New Year address, Cho commented that the country's defense and security-related moves should conform to the basic tenets of its pacifist Constitution and should not undermine regional stability.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se said on the same day that Japanese political leaders' enormous view of history will not only plunge Japan into isolation but will also pose a grave threat to South Korea-Japan relations as well as peace and stability in Northeast Asia.

Valery Kistanov, Director of the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told People's Daily that nationalist remarks have kept emerging in Japan since Abe took office for the second time in December 2012. The Japanese prime minister's rhetoric about restoring a "strong Japan" can only deepen the domestic political divide, Kistanov added.

An international law professor with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations said Abe's vows to amend Japan's postwar pacifist Constitution by 2020 constitute a blatant challenge to international law. In accordance with the rulings of the Tokyo Trials, Japan is obligated to undertake responsibility for crimes committed during World War II and implement these rulings to the letter. Abe's words and actions are therefore bound to meet with condemnation from the international community.

A report published at the website of Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on January 2 noted that Abe pledged to lift restrictions imposed by Japan's war-renouncing Constitution in his New Year address. At the same time, it stressed that move came only several days after the Japanese prime minister visited the Yasukuni Shrine. The report pointed out what Abe said and did sparked fierce condemnation from China, South Korea and Southeast Asian nations, and even the United States expressed disappointment at his shrine visit. It added that the Abe administration appeared poised to make no compromises despite other countries' protests.

An Australian expert of Asian studies said Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in disregard of opposition from its Asian neighbors trampled on the feelings of China and other Asian nations that suffered from Japanese aggression. Abe's move not only jeopardized Japan's relations with China and other neighbors, but also severely threatened regional peace and stability.

During a speech delivered in a Tokyo street on January 2, Natsuo Yamaguchi, President of Japan's New Komeito Party, called on Abe to listen to voices from the international community against his shrine visit and not to deviate from the right path. Kyodo News commented Yamaguchi's words were intended to restrain Abe, who attempts to revise interpretations of the Japanese Constitution to allow Japan's Self-Defense Forces to exercise the right of collective self-defense.

Tshilidzi Munyai, Secretary General of the African National Congress branch in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng Province, told People's Daily that Abe's recent words and actions, reminiscent of Japan's past militarism, serve as a severe provocation that is bound to exert an unfavorable influence over peace and development in East Asia. All those familiar with history are of the view that Japan should reflect upon its past, he added.

Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine and reckless rhetoric in his New Year address not only hurt the feelings of Asian nations that suffered from Japanese aggression, but also brought to light Japanese politicians' reluctance to face up to history, said Han Surong, President of the German Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification of China. Chinese descendants and citizens residing overseas all condemn Abe's moves, Han added.

Homage to war criminals

U.S. officials, media outlets, experts and scholars have recently ratcheted up criticism of Abe. At the same time, an increasing number of commentators have urged the United States to be more alert to the Abe administration's drastic shift to the right and reexamine U.S. policies.

Dennis Halpin, a scholar with the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, believes Abe's radical nationalistic stance will become better known in the international community as his recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine triggered condemnation from many other Asian nations.

An American writer identified as John said Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine not to mourn the war dead but to pay homage. The visit showed his endorsement of Japan's past militarism, highlighting the fact that he is a worshipper of World War II war criminals sharing the same thinking with them, the writer warned.

Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of U.S.-based The National Interest journal, wrote that the Japanese Government's accelerated efforts to revise school textbooks is evidence that nationalism is on the upsurge in Japan. Heilbrunn noted a striking contrast with Germany: While genuine contrition and repentance have been absorbed into the DNA of German democracy, retrograde Japanese nationalists refuse to acknowledge that their country did shameful things in the past. Japan has a long way to go to accomplish its goal of becoming a world power, he added.

The U.S.-based Foreign Policy magazine also commented that Abe's shrine visit was a slap on America's face. "If Abe wants to go back to pre-war Japan, Washington should not be shielding him from the wrath of his neighbors," the article said.

When covering Abe's New Year address, U.S. media outlets pointed out that Abe considered steps ranging from seeking to amend the Japanese Constitution and upgrade the Self-Defense Forces to a full-fledged army to visiting the Yasukuni Shrine as part of a smart strategy. But these moves are forcing the United States to rethink about its enemies and allies in Northeast Asia. The United States should understand that it is necessary to adjust its policy toward Japan because its interests in the Asia-Pacific region will inevitably be affected. If Abe persists with a hard-line stance, the United States should reexamine its commitments made as Japan's ally to pressure the Abe administration for change.

British newspaper Financial Times published an article titled "Shunning Yasukuni Would Be One Way for Shinzo Abe to Say Sorry" at its website on January 1. The article said that what Abe did raised questions about the sincerity of his remorse for Japan's past aggression. While then German Chancellor Willy Brandt fell to his knees before a monument to Jewish victims at the Warsaw Ghetto, no serving Japanese prime minister, let alone the emperor, has ever prostrated before the memorial to the Nanjing Massacre, it added.