Following his visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on December 26, 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a controversial speech at the 2014 New Year's Day, claiming that the struggle to restore a strong Japan has just begun. His deeds and words have been widely questioned and refuted by the international community. Foreign officials and experts believe that Abe's comments and actions have constituted a threat to regional stability, and should be universally condemned.

Forming a threat to regional stability

In a telephone conversation with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on January 2, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his disappointment with Abe' s visit to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine that honors class-A war criminals.

An unnamed Japanese professor from Kokugakuin University's Religious Studies Department who graduated from the U.S.-based Princeton University said Yasukuni Shrine houses Japan's class-A criminals of WW II, which involves the complex problem of history, thus as Japanese Prime Minister, Abe should not visit the Shrine. Furthermore, the nature of the Yasukuni Shrine is fundamentally different from that of the Arlington National Cemetery of the United States. The Arlington National Cemetery is a national-level holy place that is respected by people of different religions. But Yasukuni Shrine is different. It is only a shrine of Japanese Shinto.

A U.S. film director named John who lived in Japan for decades said the Abe cabinet is the most conservative and right-wing administration that he had ever seen. Yasukuni Shrine is a venue with political implications, thus visit to the Shrine means that the Japanese politicians aim to deny Japan's history of aggression. Abe's slogan is "to restore Japan," though he did not say it explicitly, it can be inferred that Abe wants to return to the era that "Japan is not wrong (launched the war of aggression)." In that sense, Abe is a very dangerous politician.

An online story of South Africa's Sharenet published on January 1 said, after Abe's highly criticized visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, another Japanese politician from the Abe cabinet visited the war-linked shrine again on December 31, 2013. Their deeds are just like adding salt to the wound of China and South Korea. The story also quoted related media comments saying that the moves of Abe and his cabinet members have posed a threat to regional stability.

A story from German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said on January 3 that after taking office for one year, the halo over Abe's head has diminished quickly. The essence of the so-called Abenomics is just to inject excessive currency into its economy. The monetary policy of Abe can merely stimulate the economy in the short term and will not create economic growth. Abe did not implement necessary reform measures; on the contrary, he raised the banner of nationalism in Japan's foreign policies. When Abe first took office as Japanese Prime Minister in 2007, nationalism had already become his top priority.

On January 2, Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification in Luxembourg held an emergent symposium. During the symposium, participants denounced Abe's Yasukuni Shrine visit, and lodged a strong protest against Abe's move. Jiang Yida, secretary general of the council, said Abe claimed that his visit to the Yasukuni Shrine is to pray for peace, but he cannot fool all the Japanese people as well as all the peace-loving peoples around the world. As Japanese Prime Minister, Abe's visit to the Shrine demonstrated to Asian countries and the whole world that he would never look back in the way of reviving Japanese militarism.

A story on the website of African Financial News analyzed on January 1, 2014 that the Abe administration is trying to rewrite its war past. Japan has no sincerity in apologizing for its war crimes.

On Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine as well as his arrogant New Year speech, Germany foreign ministry spokesman said to People's Daily on January 2 that every country should sincerely examine their role in the brutal wars of the 20th century. Only on the basis of such sincere introspection, could they build a common future with their once hostile countries. "This is a tenets cherished by Germany, and I think it also applies to all countries," said the spokesman.

Pakistani Senator Mushahid Hussain and Makhdoom Babar, Editor-in-Chief and President of the Pakistan-based Daily Mail said, Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine is egregious behavior, indicating that there is no introspection on the crimes committed by Japan. It has not only irritated China and South Korea, but also the United States who has expressed disappointment about Abe's move. The visit is a kind of reckless outrageous offensive. It could only exacerbate the division of Japanese society and estrange the relationship between Japan and other countries, which is not conducive to regional peace and stability. Abe's visit should be condemned by the whole world.

The Yasukuni Shrine visit of Abe shoots Japan in the foot

A story from the U.S.-based news magazine the Atlantic Monthly said Abe has made conditions worse among Japan, China, and South Korea, with spillover effects on America. That is the step Japan's prime minister has just taken.

A story recently released by the Wall Street Journal said, Abe's visit to the shrine is further eroding already low levels of trust between East Asia's major economies. The story quoted Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo as saying that, "With his Yasukuni visit, Abe will now have to take full responsibility for breaking down Japan-China [and] Japan-South Korea ties. Bilateral summits will now be even more of a long shot." Daniel Sneider, associate director for research at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, said in the story that the United States is unhappy over rising tensions between not just Japan and South Korea but also between Japan and China.

An online story of U.S.-based Fox News said the Japanese Prime Minister's move of honoring war criminals enrages its friends. The story said, "Trust among friends has been needlessly degraded because of Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine honoring Japanese war criminals." Abe's visit to the Shrine makes many Americans think twice – wherein lies the real danger point in the Pacific – the unstable young man running North Korea, Chinese adventurism or a resurgence of the kind of nationalism that led Japan into war and conquest?

Sheila Smith, a senior fellow for Japan Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations of the United States, said Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine is by no means an issue of domestic politics. It would eventually cause trouble for Japan's diplomacy and security affairs. The move of Abe will "throw a wrench" in political reconciliation efforts in the already trouble-mired East Asian region and further isolate Japan diplomatically from other countries in the region. Richard Nathan Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations of the United States, said Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine has made nationalism in the region rise to dangerous level. U.S. economist Patrick said Abe's visit has put the image of a strong nationalist Japan above its practical security interests.

Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming criticized Abe for fuelling tensions between the two countries in an article for the Daily Telegraphon January 2, 2014. Accompanied with the article is an editorial by the senior political editor of the newspaper James Carl Coop who expresses his support for China and criticized Abe's actions.