Japanese papers blame Junichiro Koizumi for meeting cancellation with Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi

Question is : Did Wu Yi really mean to meet Koizumi?
This question is even not asked by Japanese media...

Quote :

Japanese papers have blamed Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi's refusal to give up visiting a war shrine for
the sudden cancellation of a meeting with Chinese Vice
Premier Wu Yi, saying an opportunity was missed to
improve tense ties.

Wu on Monday cut short her visit to Japan by one day by
cancelling a meeting with Koizumi. Beijing said only
she had pressing duties at home but later hinted the
shrine issue was the reason.

"It is very likely that Koizumi's remarks on his visit
to the Yasukuni shrine has caused the cancellation," the
liberal daily Mainichi Shimbun said in an editorial.

The Mainichi said Wu's cancellation was "extremely
unprecedented" under diplomatic protocol, adding: "It
was very unfortunate since the meeting could have been a
step toward improving Sino-Japanese relations."

A day before Wu's arrival in Japan, Koizumi indicated to
a parliamentary committee on May 16 that he would again
visit the war shrine, which venerates 2.5 million
Japanese war dead including 14 top war criminals.

Beijing has repeatedly demanded Koizumi stop his
pilgrimage to Yasukuni while Chinese President Hu Jintao
on Sunday told senior Japanese ruling lawmakers in
Beijing that visits to the war shrine were endangering
ties.

Wu kept her appointments in Tokyo with business leaders,
meeting the chairman of Toyota Motor and addressing a
forum hosted by the Japanese financial daily the Nihon
Keizai Shimbun.

The Nihon Keizai in an editorial Tuesday also
interpreted Wu's abrupt departure as a response to the
shrine row.

Quoting Japanese government sources, the country's
top-selling daily Yomiuri Shimbun said Koizumi's war
shrine visit was likey "the direct cause" for Wu's
cancellation.

(agencies)