Chinese diplomatic experts said Monday that the blatant and repeated provocative remarks distorting history made by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso have severely offended the Chinese people and will gravely worsen the already frosty China-Japan relations.

Aso said in Fukuoka on Saturday, "Thanks to the significant improvement in educational standards and literacy (during the colonization), Taiwan is now a country with a very high education level and it keeps up with the current era."

An Ran, an expert on Taiwan's anti-Japanese movement, said that during the 50-year-long colonial rule in Taiwan, the Japanese imperialists not only deliberately imposed its colonial culture on local people but also strained every nerve to suppress the spread of Chinese traditional culture, enslaving and assimilating Taiwan people through ideological and spiritual movements.

"These movements greatly infringed upon the traditional culture and the independent ethnic spirit cherished by the Taiwan people, and brought about a grave disaster rather than contributing to Taiwan society," said An.

Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China. In 1895, after a war of aggression against China, Japan forced the Qing government to sign the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki and forcibly occupied Taiwan.

Following Japan's World War II defeat in 1945, Taiwan was returned to China, as ordered by the Potsdam Proclamation and the Cairo Declaration.

As an outspoken, hawkish foreign minister, Aso said last October, shortly after assuming office, that China and the Republic of Korea were the only countries in the world to be fussy about the Yasukuni Shrine visits.

At the end of last year, Aso attacked China by saying it "is beginning to pose a considerable threat."

On Jan. 28, Aso said that a visit to the controversial shrine by the emperor "would be the best." On Saturday, Aso, once again, made absurd remarks glorifying Japan's invasion history.

"It is not a coincidence for Aso to make these derogatory words, but a reflection of the deep-rooted thought of Japan's right-wing forces," said Liu Jiangyong, a professor with the prestigious Qinghua University in Beijing.

Experts pointed out that since China and Japan normalized ties in 1972, the issue of recognition of Japan's invasion of China and the Taiwan issue have long been the key elements that have affected China-Japan relations.

"Aso's remarks, which connected with the invasion issue and the Taiwan issue, are an obvious provocation to China and a brazen challenge to the basis of bilateral ties," said Liu, who has studied China-Japan relations for more than a decade.

Yao Wenli, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China-Japan relations should be based on the correct review of history, which can be summarized as "taking history as if it is a mirror, and looking forward to the future."

"But the senior Japanese diplomat took an incorrect view of history, sugaring up the history of aggression and calling Taiwan 'a country'," Yao said, adding Aso's act was a violation of the spirit of the China-Japan Joint Statement and the commitment of the Japanese government.

"As foreign minister, Aso is in the position to mend the soured China-Japan relations. But the fact is, he is not a peace-maker, but a trouble-maker," Liu said, likening Aso's act to "pouring oil on the fire," which has further damaged the already tense China-Japan relations.

The fact that Japan does not correctly deal with the historical issue has aroused the condemnation of the international community.

At the 42nd Munich Conference on Security Policy wrapped up in Munich in Germany on Sunday, a group of delegates, initiated by a German delegate, asked deputy Japanese Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki, "Why does Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi keep visiting the shrine that honors convicted Class-A war criminals?"

Soon after Aso's remark, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said he was "shocked" and expressed China's "strong indignation over the Japanese foreign minister's remark of overtly glorifying invasion history."

"The move, just like lifting a rock only to drop it on his own feet, defies human justice and conscience and will ultimately not be of benefit to Japan itself," said Kong.

Experts maintained that Aso's defiant remarks also reflect his personal political ambition. "To win political competition, Aso took a hard-line attitude toward China at all costs, in a bid to win over the Japanese right-wing and create an image of a tough politician," Liu said.

Koizumi and Aso had stated earlier this year that Japan would further enhance its "friendly", "cooperative" ties with China into the future, saying it is an "unshakable" principle of his government. However, experts said Japan's behavior differs widely to such a statement and makes people doubt its sincerity to improve China-Japan relationship.

Source: Xinhua