Lee blasts China for making fuss over Japan leaders' Yasukuni visits

Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui on Saturday blasted China for making a fuss over Japanese leaders' visits to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo which is seen by Beijing as a symbol of Japanese militarism during and before World War II.

Speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo, the 84-year-old former leader also reiterated that Taiwan is an "independent country" and urged Beijing to promote democracy.

On Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, Lee said, "There is no rationale for a foreign government to say anything at all about or criticize" visits by Japanese leaders to the shrine because "it is natural to pay homage to young people who died for their own country."

Lee said the problem of Yasukuni visits is an issue "made up by mainland China and Korea" in an attempt to divert criticism by their peoples away from domestic issues that they have "failed to deal with."

"Even so, the Japanese government has been too soft in dealing with them," he said.

The Yasukuni shrine venerates 2.5 million war dead including colonial subjects and — most controversially — 14 top war criminals from World War II.

Lee said he paid the pilgrimage to mourn his late brother, who is enshrined as he died fighting in the Japanese navy in 1945 when Taiwan was Tokyo's colony.

"There is no reason for Japan to be criticized by foreign countries or foreign governments over this kind of issue," Lee said. "It is such a natural thing to honor young people who died for their country."

Japan's former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi paid annual pilgrimages to the Yasukuni shrine, infuriating China and South Korea which refused any summits with him.

In a bid to improve relations, Koizumi's successor Shinzo Abe has maintained a strategic silence on whether he will go while in office, even though he was a frequent visitor before becoming premier in September.

Lee angered Beijing during his 1988-2000 tenure by seeking a separate identity for Taiwan. Beijing lobbed missiles near the island in 1995 and 1996, prompting the United States to send in warships.

In remarks that will likely trigger more furor in Beijing, Lee repeated the island was already effectively independent.

"I won't be daunted at all by whatever China says about Taiwan," Lee said. "The people in Taiwan shouldn't care about it, either."

"The residents of Taiwan must hold the opinion that this is our country, otherwise no one would help us," Lee said.

China's defeated Kuomintang nationalists fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the mainland's civil war. Beijing considers the island a territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Lee's remarks came hours after Chinese President Hu Jintao, on the sidelines of a Group of Eight summit in Germany, warned Abe to exercise caution on any Taiwanese moves for independence.

Abe replied there was no change in Japan's policy of recognising only Beijing. His government has said Lee was on a private visit. As a Taiwanese, he does not need a visa to enter Japan.

Only a dwindling handful of countries recognise Taipei as China's legitimate government, with Costa Rica on Wednesday switching allegiance to Beijing.

Despite repeated protests by Beijing, Lee said his trip to Japan was "a big success" and he wants to visit again.

Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945 and many Taiwanese tend to be friendlier than Koreans and mainland Chinese towards Japan.

But indigenous Taiwanese leaders were outraged by Lee's visit to the Yasukuni shrine, saying Japan has not yet atoned for its colonial rule.