NEW YORK (Kyodo) Japan's acting consul general in New York said Tuesday in a letter to the International Herald Tribune that The New York Times' recent editorial criticizing Foreign Minister Taro Aso for his remarks on Japan's prewar and wartime activities "lacks understanding and presents unfounded comments."
The letter said Aso has "neither justified nor denied Japan's past history of colonial rule or wartime aggression."
In the Feb. 13 editorial titled "Japan's Offensive Foreign Minister," the Times criticized Aso for "disserving the people he has been pandering to, besides offending neighboring countries that Japan needs as allies and trading partners." The editorial was also published in the IHT on Feb. 14.
"The foreign minister did not say that the Emperor ought to visit Yasukuni Shrine under the present circumstances. He simply pointed out the need to consider a way for government representatives, as well as the Emperor, to naturally honor the Japanese war dead without causing discomfort for neighboring countries," Acting Consul General Hiroshi Sato said.
The Times said Aso recently suggested "that Japan's Emperor ought to visit Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 Japanese war criminals are among those honored, and his claim that Taiwan owes its high educational standards to enlightened Japanese policies during the 50-year occupation that began when Tokyo grabbed the island as war booty from China in 1895."
The Times also said Aso has characterized China's long-term military buildup as a "considerable threat" to Japan.