Shortly after Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s visit to the Yasukuni war shrine on December 26, Xinhua wrote a commentary on the visit. Below is an excerpt from Xinhua’s commentary:
The Japanese Prime Minister’s “out of line” action was premeditated. It indisputably shows that the Japanese right-wing militarism has a deep root and has a big market. There are two main reasons for this:
First, Japanese society has been making a right turn. Its purpose is, through wiping out the history of aggression and revising the pacifist constitution, to remove the hat of being the defeated nation and get rid of the shackles of the post-World War II international order so that it can become a "normal state" with the ability to develop a regular army, send troops overseas, and realize the goal of being a "big political power."
Military expert Peng Guangqian said, "In the past (many) think there were only a handful of Japanese right-wingers, but the facts show there are a large number."
Zhang Huanli, a researcher from the International Affairs Institute of Xinhua News Agency and a senior reporter residing in Japan for many years, said, "China has always advocated ‘Sino-Japanese friendship,’ and ‘good-neighborliness.’ The Japanese did not believe in this. [We] must be realistic and carefully look at the real Japan.”
Second, the United States has shifted its strategic center eastward. Japan believes that this is an opportune time. As America’s most effective ally, Japan diligently collaborates with the United States, strengthens the Japan-U.S. alliance, and vigorously promotes the policy of containing China. It shows an unprecedented tough diplomacy toward China and carries out military deployment and exercises against China.
Although the United States expressed disappointment following Abe’s enshrining the "ghosts," anyone with a clear mind can see that the U.S. and Japan are actually “singing a duet.”
Source: Xinhua, December 29, 2013
http://world.people.com.cn/n/2013/1229/c1002-23969901.html