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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8577
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0545
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 6730
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 7203
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 7634
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 5767
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 000775 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2025 
TAGS: PREL CH JA
SUBJECT: JAPANESE READOUT: DAI BINGGUO UNCOMPROMISING ON 
YASUKUNI, SEEKS "POSITIVE" SIGNALS FROM JAPAN 
 
 
Classified By: Political Minister Counselor W. Michael Meserve.  Reason 
: 1.4 (b)(d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  Visiting Tokyo, Vice Foreign Minister Dai 
Bingguo relayed an uncompromising stand on Yasukuni Shrine 
and tried to elicit positive messages from Japanese 
interlocutors, according to MOFA sources, who speculated Dai 
was attempting to deflect domestic criticism of MFA's 
handling of relations with Japan.  The two sides agreed to 
institute reciprocal "culture years" starting in 2006, to 
establish a bilateral historical research project and to 
resume Director General-level East China Sea talks before the 
end of February.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Chinese Executive Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo is 
meeting with a number of politicians in addition to his 
counterpart Vice Foreign Minister Yachi during Dai's February 
8-14 visit, MOFA China Division Director Hiroyasu Izumi told 
us February 13 in a preliminary readout.  Meetings with Diet 
members primarily in the "pro-China" camp, including Yohei 
Kono, Tetsuya Fukuda, METI Minister Nikai, Finance Minister 
Tanigaki and Komeito leader Kanzaki, were initiated by the 
Chinese.  MOFA separately recommended meetings with FM Taro 
Aso and Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, Izumi noted. 
 
¶3. (C) In a round of meetings over the February 11-12 
weekend, the primary question posed by Dai to both MOFA Vice 
Minister Yachi and political leaders was how they see China's 
development, Izumi related.  Does Japan view the bilateral 
Japan-PRC relationship as a strategic rivalry or a 
cooperative friendship?  Izumi speculated that this approach 
-- which will show a large number of Japanese leaders support 
cooperative relations -- was likely the result of high-level 
discussions on the bilateral relationship held during the 
month-long stay in Beijing by China's ambassador to Japan 
Wang Yi in December.  One additional outcome of those 
meetings appears to have been the decision that China would 
never compromise on the Yasukuni Shrine issue.  Dai conveyed 
that message firmly and repeatedly to Vice Minister Yachi, 
Izumi related.  VM Yachi spent a lot of time explaining why 
PM Koizumi visits Yasukuni, stressing that he specifically 
excludes homage to the Class A war criminals.  Japan also 
took pains to refute allegations of revived Japanese 
militarism.  VFM Dai, however, made it clear that China 
cannot accept any explanation of the Yasukuni visits.  The 
fact alone that the visits take place is enough to "hurt the 
feelings of the Chinese people," Dai had stressed.  Despite 
Japan's efforts, "there is no solution" to the problem, Izumi 
lamented. 
 
¶4. (C) Dai's focus on meeting with relatively "pro-China" 
politicians may have been part of an effort to send a 
positive message back to Beijing about the relationship, 
Izumi suggested.  He noted that the National People's 
Congress (NPC) will meet in early-March and that high-level 
officials will be meeting soon to review domestic and foreign 
policies.  In this context, he surmised, it was important for 
China's MFA to maintain the basic stance that China places 
importance on bilateral relations and wants to maintain them. 
 Positive messages from Japanese politicians more sympathetic 
to China and opposed to Yasukuni visits, combined with the 
unyielding stance on Yasukuni, should help protect the MFA 
from domestic criticism of how it has handled relations with 
Japan, Izumi opined. 
 
¶5. (C)  Japanese officials presented Dai with a "good 
message" regarding the importance of the bilateral 
relationship, Izumi continued.  The two sides agreed that 
they cannot allow the bilateral situation to continue to 
deteriorate and that they must work to improve the 
relationship.  Toward that end, a tentative agreement was 
concluded to strengthen people-to-people ties by designating 
2006 as Chinese Culture Year in Japan, and 2007 as Japanese 
Culture Year in China.  This initiative, however, was not yet 
matured to the point that it can be made public, he noted. 
Dai and Yachi also agreed to move ahead with a bilateral 
historical research project.  The project might be expanded 
at some point to include researchers from third countries, 
Izumi observed.  Finally, the two sides agreed to resume 
Director General-level talks on the East China Sea resource 
dispute before the end of February. 
SCHIEFFER