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JAPAN/CHINA: Tibet Haunts Hu Jintao's 'Historic' Visit

Catherine Makino

TOKYO, May 7 2008 (IPS) - Although the Japanese government is keen not to embarrass Chinese President Hu Jintao, while here on a ‘historic’ five-day state visit, the Tibet question does not seem to go away.

Tibet figured high at a press conference – that followed a summit meeting Wednesday – where Hu expressed hope that recently initiated talks between Chinese officials and the representatives of the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, may prove fruitful. ‘’We hope the contacts will achieve positive results.’’

But Hu laid the caveat that the ‘’Dalai's side will use actions to show its sincerity, and truly stop activities to split the motherland, stop planning and instigating violent activities, and stop activities to wreck the Beijing Olympic Games’’.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who was present at the press conference, said he welcomed Beijing’s decision to open dialogue with the Dalai Lama’s representatives. "I have high expectations that the dialogue will be held patiently, and through that for the situation to improve and the international community's concerns to be dispelled," he said, hinting at the pressure brought to bear on Beijing to agree to the talks.

What was not so mild was a massive rally of more than 4,000 people, chanting ‘Free Tibet’ and waving banners that read ‘Don’t Kill our Friends,’ that was held in the capital on Tuesday afternoon, coinciding with Hu’s arrival.

The demonstrators marched through central Tokyo to Yoyogi Park, where Buddhist monks, Shinto priests, Mongolian, Chinese and Taiwanese activists and officers from the Tibetan government-in-exile gave speeches before holding a candle-light vigil after dark. They handed out flyers with paper cranes symbolising peace, covered with the colours of the Tibetan flag

Pema Gyalpo, professor at Toin University in Yokohama and Tokyo-based expert on Tibet affairs, spoke at the rally. "I’m happy the Japanese are showing great interest in the Tibetan issue," he told the cheering crowd. "I must remind you that Tibet has been an issue for than a half a century. Tibetan problems will not fade away after the Olympics.’’

"It is because of international pressure that China is opening talks with his Holiness the Dalai Lama. But I believe this is cosmetic surgery, and until they talk seriously and change their attitudes we need you,’’ said Gyalpo, a former top aide to the Dalai Lama.

Gyalpo said he was glad Fukuda had told China's visiting foreign minister Yang Jiechi, last month, that Beijing must face up to the fact that Tibet had become an international problem, rather than stick to the position that it was an internal dispute.

But pro-Tibet groups – such as the Save Tibet Network (STN), which is backed by Tibetan communities in Japan, Amnesty International, pro-democracy activists in Inner Mongolia, Taiwan and China – were not satisfied with what they considered to be a mild stance by Fukuda.

This is only the beginning, warned STN which plans to deliver thousands of signatures to the Japanese government, the Chinese embassy in Japan, and the United Nations, calling for an immediate stop of serious human rights infringements in Tibet.

"We are letting the leaders know that we are not satisfied with Japanese policies towards Tibet and China," said Rev. Shuei Kobayashi, a Buddhist priest and co-chairman of Japan Committee for Tibet.

"This has to be a nightmare for the Japanese government," said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo. "They don’t want anything regarding Tibet to tarnish this visit because Hu and Fukuda need it to be a success."

Hu wants the world to recognise that China is much more than the images from Tibet and that he is someone you can deal with, noted Kingston. ‘’It’s important for him to put on a good show.’’

"China hoped that the Olympic festival would be a happy event showing China at its best, but the Western media has not stuck to this script and the negative coverage over Tibet has cast a cloud over China’s celebrations,’’ said Kingston.

The Chinese also feel the West is making a big deal out of the situation and are surprised by the eruption of anti-Chinese, pro-Tibet demonstrations around the world. Most Chinese have little idea about the situation in Tibet given that the media is tightly controlled, noted Kingston.

But both China and Japan are eager to extract something good from the first visit to this country by a Chinese president in ten years. Hu is scheduled to meet with the parliamentarians, play ping-pong, talk with students and tour historic temples to promote the warming relations between the two Asian giants. He will also meet Emperor Akihito three times, which is highly unusual, and shows the importance of the visit.

Fukuda needs the Hu visit to raise his standing at home. His political career is reeling from one crisis to another and his cabinet's approval rating is around 20 percent. Given such a background he is unlikely to risk derailing bilateral relations over Tibet.

And then there is the economy to be considered. China is Japan's largest trading partner, with more than 236.6 billion US dollars worth of annual business between them. China is a huge customer for Japan's high-tech products and both countries need to be able to continue their lucrative business.

Kingston warned that it is important for both countries to prepare for possible rainy days ahead should China’s economy stumble or other problems emerge. "The situation is relatively good now, but it is important to institutionalise exchanges and strengthen linkages so they have something to fall back on to manage tensions."

While pro-Tibet groups are already preparing for more demonstrations when Hu returns to Japan for the G8 Summit in Hokkaido in July, Kingston said Japan cannot be expected to lecture China over Tibet. ‘’Japan does not have a reputation for standing up on human rights and this will be no exception.’’

Fukuda told reporters ahead of the Hu visit: "Facts have proved that the development of long-term, stable, and good neighbourly friendship between China and Japan is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples."

Ties between the two countries have seen worse. During Junichiro Koizumi's tenure as prime minister, from 2001 to 2006, they reached a low thanks to Koizumi’s insistence on making regular visits to Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine, which honours 14 convicted war criminals among Japan’s 2.5 million war dead. His visits to the shrine were followed by anti-Japan protests in China, which sees the shrine as a symbol of Japan’s militaristic and colonial past.