JAPAN’S PRIME minister has waded into the row over Chinese Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, with comments that could further damage already badly frayed ties with China.
Naoto Kan told Japan’s Diet (parliament) yesterday he welcomed the peace prize award to democracy activist Mr Liu, who is serving 11 years in a Chinese jail for “subverting state power”.
“I think it is important that human rights and fundamental freedoms, which are universal values, should also be guaranteed in China,” said Mr Kan, who called the release of Mr Liu “desirable”. Mr Kan’s intervention comes as both sides struggle to deal with the fallout from a damaging dispute last month, when Japan’s coastguard detained the captain of a Chinese trawler that had strayed into waters claimed by Tokyo.
The spat in the Senkaku (as known in Japan) or Daiyou (China) islands sparked a furious response from Beijing and a two-week standoff that only ended when the captain was released.
Japanese conservatives have rounded furiously on Mr Kan, accusing him of dogeza gaiko – appeasement diplomacy. Tokyo’s right-wing governor Shintaro Ishihara called the Chinese “gangsters”, and said last week it was time for Japan to seriously consider developing nuclear weapons.
A wily and normally careful politician, Mr Kan yesterday may have been responding to his critics as he responded to questions from other Diet members.
China has censored Nobel prize reporting and cancelled meetings with officials from Norway, which awards it. Mr Kan’s comments are likely to stoke the row.
The Japanese leader reportedly wants to meet Chinese premier Wen Jiabao at the sidelines of a summit of Asian leaders this month in Vietnam. Both had promised to repair ties when they met in Brussels at an Asia-Europe summit earlier this month.
Mr Kan previously provoked Beijing’s ire when he warned about China’s military build-up, and called on it to act as a “responsible member of the international community” in his first major policy speech last month.
Yesterday, he said he would be “watching” whether Mr Liu or his wife and family are allowed to attend the Nobel prize award ceremony in Oslo, Norway. But he added: “Japan-China relations are getting back to the basics of a mutually beneficial strategic partnership,” and made no formal request for the dissident’s release.
Many observers believe Beijing is unlikely to allow Mrs Liu pick up the prize for her husband.