Beijing turns cold shoulder to Japan

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Beijing has declared Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "not welcome" by the Chinese people and said Chinese leaders won't meet him.

It is China's toughest stance since tensions flared last year between the Asian powerhouses over China's Diaoyu Islands.

Analysts said Abe must apologize for his visit to a shrine honoring war criminals and promise not to visit it again if he really wants to mend ties with neighbors.

"It is Abe who has shut the door on talks with Chinese leaders," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at a daily news briefing on Monday, referring to Abe's Dec 26 visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A World War II criminals.

"Since assuming office, Abe has miscalculated China-Japan ties and made one mistake after another," Qin said, calling the war criminals fascists and Nazis of Asia.

During his visit to the shrine, the first by a sitting Japanese prime minister since 2006, Abe said that relations with China and South Korea were important and he hoped "for an opportunity to explain to China and South Korea that strengthening ties would be in the national interest".

Liu Jiangyong, an expert on Japanese studies at Tsinghua University, said, "As the international community has questioned Abe's visit, an apology or a promise of no more visits will be more sincere than his offer of an explanation."

Abe's call for a chance to explain the matter is an attempt to put the ball back into the court of China and South Korea, he said.

Qin said that doors will remain open for people-to-people exchanges.

Wang Xinsheng, a professor of Japanese studies at Peking University, said it is unlikely Chinese leaders would meet Abe at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit scheduled next year in Beijing if tensions continue.

Questions:

1. Who is Shinzo Abe?

2. What is the name of the shrine housing war criminals did Abe visit?

3. Who is Wang Xinsheng?

Answers:

1. The prime minister of Japan.

2. Yasukuni Shrine.

3. A professor of Japanese studies at Peking University.

About the broadcaster:

Anne Ruisi is an editor at China Daily online with more than 30 years of experience as a newspaper editor and reporter. She has worked at newspapers in the U.S., including The Birmingham News in Alabama and City Newspaper of Rochester, N.Y.