Government says PM Abe was misquoted in comments about China’s need for conflict

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Ida Torres in National, Politics with 67 Comments
Government says PM Abe was misquoted in comments about China’s need for conflict

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the Washington Post misquoted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s remarks about China. The article quotes Abe as saying the Chinese have a “deeply ingrained” need for conflict, which has led to another war of words with the Chinese government.

The report cited Abe as saying that China‘s decisions to clash with its neighbours over territorial disputes is to play to popular opinion that is due to a Chinese educational system of patriotism and “anti-Japanese sentiment.” After China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei reacted angrily to the report, Suga says the Japanese government got in touch with China to clarify the statements. Lei earlier said that they were “shocked” with the statements and that it is very rare that leader would “brazenly distort facts” and ineffectively verbally attack its neighbor, despite the fact that the two countries have been involved in increasing tensions over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands. Lei said that PM Abe must clarify these statements as soon as possible.

The Prime Minister has repeatedly emphasized that Japan still considers its relationship with China as one of the most important bilateral relationships of the country. Suga said that they still plan to pursue the bilateral strategies that they are planning to put into place, plans that are “mutually beneficial through an overall perspective.”

[ via Xinhuanet ]
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  • Far East

    @Japan Daily Press: the article is cut and incomplete. Can you please correct?

  • Bill

    Abe is coming from the famous WWII war criminal family. No wonder he is against China. He is trying to use the trick to deny what he said by giving the misquote from Washington Post whcih is unacceptable. This is an insult to Washington Post. This need to be clarify who misquote this as he insisted China using lock radar without showing evidence showing to public. This made me remmember how Japan imperial army using false evidence to accurse China kidnapped one of their solider and started the WWII but finally that soldier was hiden by Japan imperial army. Shame on Abe.

    • China a land of thieves

      Dunno if it was a misquote for Abe but the way you speak makes the misquote seem true than false lol. Only “deeply ingrained” anti jp sentiment would start talking about a war that pretty much is nearly a century old.

      • Bill

        You are wrong. Washing Post confirmed they did not misquote what Abe said. Then confirmed Abe is lying. Shame on Abe.

        • Whirled Peas

          The Washington Post made available the actual transcript of its interview with Abe. Of course the Washington Post says it did not misquote because it is protecting its writers. But now that the public can read for themselves what was actually said by the interviewer and by PM Abe, even Xinhua Press is annoyed.

          According to Global Times (2013-2-25 23:43:01), “The Xinhua News Agency has hit out at The Washington Post’s interview with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prior to his trip to the US capital, implying it exacerbated already tense relations between China and Japan.” and “The Washington Post misquotation has certainly inflamed the already touchy relations between China and Japan, something Washington does not want to see, Xinhua quoted a Web user as saying.”

          • Bill

            This is not Washington Post misquote as Abe is trying to get away the mistake he made. The interview was made a few days before his disparture to US. Why he said that is trying to create more conflict with China in order to gain support from US. China had demand the explaination and Japan using misquote is unacceptable. This need to investigate who is lying. The actual transcript from WP is a good evidence that Abe is lying.

          • Whirled Peas

            I read the interview transcript, which the Washington Post published and it did not say that Chinese have a “deeply ingrained” need for conflict. i read it as meaning that the deeply ingrained Chinese patriotism based on anti-Japanese sentiment is getting in the way of improving ties. It was actually the interviewer who introduced the word “ingrained” into the conversation in the first place, sort of “leading” the interviewee. Read and understand the original transcript. The Xinhua Press also seems to think Abe was misquoted. Anyway, don’t rely on secondary sources (including me), read the transcript.

      • Far East

        LOL! Thanks for this sharp reply! :-)

        • Bill

          It is a sharp reply but in wrong direction.

          • Far East

            That proves that everything is relative ;-)

          • Bill

            You must be talking Abe lying is relatve true.

          • Far East

            … says the Chinese paid government shill :-)

          • Bill

            Don’t you know Japanesd paid government shill!!

          • Far East

            At the contrary of you, I am not and therefore I am perfectly capable of having a balanced view, one that see the good points on either side. Plus, I love Chinese people, just not their corrupt Government. You on the other hand, you have been brainwashed to hate the Japanese, but you don’t even remember the reason for sure. I mean real reasons, besides the lies you’ve been taught.

          • Bill

            Sorry to say you are brainwashed by the right wing Japanese. Trying to dream the great Japan coming back. I do not against Japanese people but I do not accept the right wing JP. They are full of lie and hatred against Chinese. Why? Because they are jealous China is growing. The deeds of right wing JP are evil and they should not be back in power.

          • Far East

            There is nothing wring with the right wing Japanese. However, I agree that the ultra nationalist, or extreme right in Japan should not access power, and it is unlikely they do, so you are safe. That being said, I am worried that nationalist extremist who actually ARE in power in China continue hurting Asian countries with their bullying.

          • Bill

            Sorry to say I do not hate Japanese but I do not like the right wing JP army. Their evil deeds need to be stopped and you must know Abe wants to build up his national power with support of US. There is why Abe create so issues before he went to US.

          • Far East

            You wrote, but then removed:
            “Soory I do not hate Japanese but I do not like the right wing JP army. Their evil deeds need to be stopped and you must know Abe wants to build up his national power with support of US. There is why Abe create so issues before he went to US.”

            Abe is not a problem. He is a conservative, that’s all. If you really are concerned with his policies, then here is something for you to ponder: Abe is reacting or even using Chinese policies toward Japan to conduct his own. SO in effect, Chinese Government is directly responsible for this conservative movement n Japan….

          • Bill

            Abe is a problem. He is coming from the famous WWII criminal family and there is contection with the imperial Janpanese army. He is trying to be conservative and his objective is to build up the imperial Japanese army and that is why he created so much trobules with China in order to get US agreement to be a military country.

          • Far East

            Any factual evidence from reputable source to back up what you claim?
            Because without hard evidence to support that, I would say you are just making things up. It pretty much shows you don’t know Japan and let alone lived there.

          • Bill

            Go to Google and you can seach Abe family backgound.

          • Far East

            @Bill, Ok so you don’t have evidence to support your claim. That’s what I wanted you to confirm. The link you provided about only says his father was Japan PM in the 60s, and basically his family is anti-communist, which is certainly why you try to portray it as war criminal family, but this is of course an outright lie. If you want to prove this, you’ll need to show some facts from reputable source.

          • Bill

            Please go to google and search of Sinzo Abe and you can find his family backgound. Abe was born into a political family of significance. His grandfather, Kan Abe, and father, Shintaro Abe, were both politicians. Abe’s mother, Yoko Kishi,[10] is the daughter of Nobusuke Kishi, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. Kishi had been a member of the Tōjō Cabinet during the Second World War. Since GHQ’s policy changed and became more anti-communist, Kishi was released from Sugamo Prison, and later established the Japan Democratic Party. In 1950 Shigeru Yoshida’s Liberal Party and Kishi’s Democratic Party merged as an anti-leftist coalition and became the Liberal Democratic Party of today

          • Far East

            You are conveniently quoting only portion from Wikipedia and just making up things and distorting information. Shinzo Abe family was never a family of war criminals as you pretend.
             Quoting from Wikipedia.
            “Unlike Tōjō (and several other cabinet members), however, Kishi was released in 1948 and was never indicted or tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.”
            Yes, Far East again :-)
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobusuke_Kishi
            If you are honest, you will take that under consideration in your future posts. Otherwise it will prove you are just a paid shill to spread propaganda. So which are you?

          • Bill

            Please do your home work and be facing the fact and truth.

          • Far East

            I think I pretty much prove I always do. It shows throughout all my posts. I don’t mind recognizing someone else facts if they are supported by evidence, and I do the same myself. So, the question is: where are your facts?

          • Bill

            His father, Shintaro Abe, was a former foreign minister. His grandfather was
            former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi, who was arrested as a suspected war
            criminal after World War II but never charged.from BCC. Lucky him.

            Concerns were raised further in October when Mr. Abe took the politically inflammatory step of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors Japan’s war dead, including Class A war criminals. In the past, such visits have angered China and South Korea, two victims of Japan’s early 20th-century militarism, who view the large Shinto shrine in central Tokyo as a symbol of Japan’s refusal to atone. From New York Times

            When Shinzo Abe was about to take office as Japan’s Prime Minister, The New York Times and other news media published many articles and reports on the rise of Japanese nationalism represented by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his successor, Shinzo Abe. According to The New York Times, Mr. Abe intends that Japanese “take pride in their country . . . and promote the ideal of a proud and independent Japan.”3Mr. Abe has a big vision for the future of Japan. “He has vowed to push through a sweeping education bill, strengthening the notion of patriotism in public classrooms in a way not seen since the fall of Imperial Japan, and to rewrite Japan’s pacifist constitution to allow the country to again have an official and flexible military.”

            “The rise of Abe, an unabashed nationalist set to be Japan’s youngest post postwar prime minister and its first to be born after the conflict, underscores a profound shift in thinking that has been shaped by those threats.” “Rather than getting praised for wrestling a good round of sumo under the rules that foreign countries make, we should join in the making of the rules,” Abe said in a televised debate in September 2006, “I believe I can create a new Japan with a new vision.” from Global Security.

          • Far East

            That’s good you recognize his family are not war criminals. If it were I would recognize, but it is not the case, so it is good to be fair to him.

            As for The Yasukuni shrine, it is an old rhetoric. This shrine is privately owned, and honor the war dead, not the war criminals. Do you see the difference? Unfortunately, there are only 14 class A war criminals. So let’s put this in perspective shall we?

            There are 2,466,532 people contained in the shrine’s Book of Souls and out of which 1,068 convicted of war crimes. That’s 0.04%. Out of those 1,068, 14 were class A war criminals. This represents 0.0006%!!

            If you ask me, I think there should be zero of those 14 there, but freedom of religion is an important concept in free countries, and the fact remains those visits made at the Yasukuni shrine were done in a private capacity, not as official government business. Thus, do not mix Japan Government policy and private religious belief.

          • Bill

            Abe family did involve in WWII with key position. This is a grace from US wiith only a few war criminals charged at that time. Not even the imperial Japanese family was charged.

          • Far East

            I am sorry to point this out, but surely you are aware that the International Tribunal for the Far East that tried those war criminals was composed of many nations among which….. China? So if Shinzo Abe grand-father was not tried, you should thank partially China for this ;-)

          • Bill

            I am sorry to say that even Shinzo Abe can get rid the trial, but his invoiement in WWII was recorded and never be removed.

          • Far East

            Sure, his grand father was part of the Japanese Government during WWII (not imperial army), and so what? They lost, he was declared innocent. What’s your point?

          • Bill

            How do you know he was not part of imperial Japanese army as he worked in a key position in WWII. That is why Abe may be influence and has anti-China mind. That is why Abe is so strong to oppose China.

          • Far East

            WIkipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobusuke_Kishi
            It’s all there. He was appointed Minister of Commerce and Industry during WWII.
            Your conclusion as to Shinzo Abe state of mind and fundamental reasons is your personal opinion, but I think it is safe to say that only him and his close relatives know the reason why he has formed those policies. What is more relevant to the matter at hand is that he enjoys over 72% of public support.

          • Bill

            Getting 72% public support is a good chance for Abe to do something benefit for Japan but if he wants to bring back imperial Japanese army, then it is a disaster for Japan.

          • Far East

            Bring back Japanese Imperial Army”? What are you talking about?

            Japan has no warmongering plan or strategy unlike China.

            Japan is prospering 100 times more as a peaceful nation. Japan has every incentives to be friends with Asian countries, and it is. It has very warm relations with all except with China, and this is essentially due to the nationalistic warmongering rhetoric of Chinese leader and Chinese army general like Luo Yuan (http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/02/outspoken-general-loses-first-weibo-battle/)

          • Bill

            You are misleading. How is Japan relationship with Korea, Russia and Taiwan … No good.

          • Far East

            I’d say it is pretty good actually. Sure they have unresolved territorial disputes, but nothing that hampers seriously their relations. That being said, it is true that last year those countries have played on nationalistic sentiments for political gains during elections, but this is just shallow.
            China, on the other hand, has territorial disputes with all its neighbors: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_territorial_disputes#Asia_and_Pacific

          • Bill

            Let’s see in future.

          • Far East

            Yes. The only sustainable future China has is by getting itself rid of their so-called communist Government, become an open, modern and respected capitalist nation, and then the sovereign Chinese people will be one of the most powerful nations on earth and respected as well.

          • Bill

            The furtuer of Japan needs to admit the wrong deeds of WWII – comfort women, mass killing in Nanking, respects to history and no more going to extreme right military direction which will return to powerful country again.

          • Far East

            What an uneducated and brainwashed paid shill you are. You probably must be the only one ignorant that Japan resolved those issues a long time ago. Here for your education the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs page about all this: http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/q_a/faq16.html
            Enjoy!

          • Bill

            What an extreme right wing thinking you are, still unable to repent to the evil deeds of imperial Japanese army. Shame on you.

          • Far East

            LOL. if only you knew who I am! :-)

            I am not Japanese for sure, and I think like everyone in Japan that what happened during WWII was horrible, and that it was a long time ago, but you guys continue to bring that up for petty political gains.

          • Bill

            The problem is a small group of extreme right JP making trouble in the region. Wihtout them, it is peacful. Whether you are Japanese I am not care, but your mind is like the extreme right wing Japanese.

          • Far East

            You could at least have the honesty of recognizing nationalist and outspoken army officials in China causing trouble in the region. People like People Liberation Army General Luo Yuan for example? http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/02/outspoken-general-loses-first-weibo-battle
            I don’t think the right wing in Japan is causing trouble in Asia. They have every bit interest in maintaining peaceful operations. And the extreme right in Japan is a very small minority.
            As for me, I am a conservative, but with a strong pronunciation and taste for justice and appreciation for cultural wealth of countries’ diversity.

          • Bill

            The extreme right wing JP like Abe is a good example leading to disaster direction if he continues to create trouble with China and Asian countries.

          • Far East

            LOL. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is a conservative, but certainly not an extreme right wing!
            But I understand that for a brainwashed communist like you, everything must look like extreme right wing…. You need to meet people from foreign countries a bit more I think.

          • Bill

            Sorry to say I am from North America and we do see Abe is heading to extreme right wing direction in turns of his deeds with China and other Asian countries. Hope he can repent and rethink before doing or saying anything.

          • Far East

            You make me laugh. You’re from North America? With your English writing skills? Not likely. You’re just a Chinese trying to pass for an American or Canadian, that’s all.

            Shinzo Abe’s election is the response from Japan to continuous infringement by China over Japanese sovereignty. The U.S. pivot strategy in Asia is also the response to China increasing assertiveness (not to say aggressiveness and bullying to other Asian countries).
            Bottom line, you reap what you sow.

          • Bill

            You make me sick as you do not respect others just like Abe trying to dream of past glory and unable to repent. Trying to fool others with false statement. Last word for you: Shame!

          • Whirled Peas

            Japan has admitted and apologized about its past numerous times. But the PRC gov’t wants to keep hatred alive like a festering wound. . The further away from WWII the harder the Chinese gov’t tries to make its citizens and the world remember the past hurts and also the glorious efforts of the communists in its war against Japanese aggression. This is a smarmy way to accumulate sympathy. I have always been sympathetic to the underdog. But when the underdog is no longer the underdog, but keeps reminding everyone about how badly s/he was treated in the past in order to continue to receive sympathy points and small allowances, I’d say that is social and political FRAUD. China is no longer an underdog, it is moving into global leadership. And with this new status it needs to stop viewing itself in a victimization framework.

          • Whirled Peas

            Imperial army? Where do you get your script? Are you aware that there is a country that is trespassing daily on some islands that Japan is administering. If that isn’t enough to push a country to want to increase their military security, what is?

          • Far East

            Forget it, you’re talking to a Chinese propaganda bot ;-)

          • Whirled Peas

            Imperial army? Where do you get your script? Are you aware that there is
            a country that is trespassing daily on some islands that Japan is
            administering. If that isn’t enough to push a country to want to
            increase their military security, what is?

  • A.C.

    I know the difficulties of translation, but how could “deeply ingrained” have been translated wrong, and what did he actually said?

  • Megatron

    Bill, you Chinese? It seems as though you are, “deeply ingrained.”

    • Bill

      Sorry. I am from Canada. Are you from the Japan extreme right wing party?

  • Tacoma

    Abe was right, BUT, he should not speak it in public, he just needs learn from chinese, never told truth.

    • Guest

      I am totally agreed with you in regarding Abe’s speech. Assuming the report is true then Abe seems to be an honest man, he spoke what he thought.

  • stocktonabby

    That’s right, u pa- thetic j (..aps). s (uk) on American c 0k. You kno who your daddy is. It’s the Americans. Now we got bases in Okinawa for the endless J (ap) girls who come to the Americans because they don’t like their own men. LOL. Because they love us more than you. LOL.

  • Bill

    Washington Post quoted from Abe interview as “China has a “deeply ingrained” need to spar with Japan and other Asian neighbors over territory, because the ruling Communist Party uses the disputes to maintain strong domestic support, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in an interview.” which shows clearly Abe is lying saying offensive words to his neighbour. What happen if China says this to Japan. His tatic is trying to make this an issue to meet Obama to get more support. What a shame to this Abe.

    • Whirled Peas

      @ Bill. The issue at hand is whether or not the Washington Post MISQUOTED Abe. To solve this controversy you cannot simply point back to the original Washington Post QUOTE and conclude “this proves Abe is lying and saying offensive words against China!” You must examine the primary source, the transcript of what was actually said, and decide from there. I have provided the relevant excerpt above. If you want to see the entire 5 page transcript, you can easily google it. It is important to seek truth from fact (actually Mao said that). It seems you WANT China to appear as a hapless victim. Why is that? To get world sympathy? To add to the anti-Japanese rhetoric within China? To drum up more patriotism? To justify the hatred of Japan that has been systematically taught since the 1990′s in China? Ask yourself why is it that anti-Japanese sentiment is greater today in China than it was 20 years ago. No, it’s not because of the rise of a few right wing Japanese. It’s because, after the Tien an Mien incident the CCP was insulted and alarmed that its citizens would dare come out against its authority, so it launched a campaign in the schools and in public to make the citizens appreciate the Party by telling them again and again how the Party saved the Chinese people from Japanese imperialism (which it did along with the Nationalists). But in educating its citizens about the past, the CCP went overboard into the realm of pure anti-Japanese propaganda, fomenting hatred, and creating a generation of youth and young adults that are now so psychologically invested in showing the world they are victims that it has crippled their ability to independently analyze and reason about world events in a deep and balanced way. I’m not saying the Japanese don’t have their faults, but there is enough real controversy in the world, there is no need to try to find reasons to be angry — well, unless one is addicted to the adrenaline that the emotion of anger produces.

      • Bill

        Thanks for your comment. Please note the original transcript from Japan can be altered by Japan government once there is different with WP transcript. WP confirmed what they published from Abe is true then why there is an misunderstanding. There must one side is lying and I trust Abe is lying in this case. Abe critized China education system but in fact he knew JP is also molify the school books about the JP evil deeds in WWII which is not acceptable. He also denys the existance of comfort women crime commited by JP. Also he got two faces to deal with one person but saying he wants to have good relationship with China but on the other hands, he trys to make troubles in words or deeds with China. Abe is never can be trusted.

        • Whirled Peas

          Hi Bill. What I posted was actually the official transcript from the WP itself.. A misquoting can happen if the official interpreter at an exchange between people not speaking the same language mis-interprets what is said by either party, or if either party hears what the interpreter accurately translates but understands it in a way the other party did not mean. Then there is the added variable of what the recorder understands and puts down in writing. This doesn’t rule out the possibility of intentional misquoting by WP, but I’d say that is a theory of last resort. Although conspiracies do exist, usually the explanation is much simpler: human error or failure to communicate. Best, WP

          • Whirled Peas

            And I forgot one thing.The media that reports on the interview might add its own interpretation or spin to what it hears or reads — This is where I think the problem lies after reading the actual transcript.

  • Far East

    Thanks for clarifying. That makes a meaningful difference!