2 destination for exports after the United States and Japan needs the Chinese market

2 destination for exports after the United States, and Japan needs the Chinese market for its goods to help recover from its worst recession in 60 years China, for its part, needs Japanese investment. WHAT IS THE RISK OF THE DISPUTE ESCALATING? Analysts say the dispute will cast a cloud over Aso's April 29-30 visit to China, but probably not escalate into a rerun of the 2001-2006 bilateral freeze. Springtime ritual offerings at the shrine are traditional in Japan, but this offering especially rankles coming just before next week's China-Japan summit. Beijing's response may also have been an effort to placate outraged public opinion when the economy is going through a rough patch because of fallout from the global financial crisis. WHY IS CHINA SO ANGRY? The offering, which coincided with a visit to Yasukuni by dozens of Japanese lawmakers during a spring festival this week, is considered by China as honouring convicted war criminals. China responded with only a moderate rebuke when Abe made a similar offering of a potted plant in 2007.

Relations between the Asian rivals and trade partners warmed after Koizumi's successor, Shinzo Abe, refrained from visits to the shrine and both governments put priority on improving ties. Sino-Japanese ties chilled during Junichiro Koizumi's 2001-2006 term as prime minister, in part due to his annual pilgrimages to the shrine. WHY DOES DISCORD PERSIST SO LONG AFTER THE WAR? Visits by Japanese leaders to the shrine deeply upset Japan's neighbours, who see it as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, while Japanese conservatives believe that their leaders should be able to pay their respects to those who died in the war. Koreans still chafe over Japanese rule from 1910 to 1945, while China has bitter memories of Japan's invasion and brutal occupation of parts of the country from 1931 to 1945.

Many Chinese and Koreans resent the honours accorded by the shrine to the war criminals. WHAT IS YASUKUNI SHRINE AND WHY IS IT CONTROVERSIAL? Established in 1869 and funded by the Japanese government until 1945, Yasukuni is dedicated to Japan's 2.5 million war dead, including about 1,000 convicted war criminals. [ID:nPEK208740] Following are questions and answers on why the shrine still stirs such passion in China. BEIJING, April 23 (Reuters) - China voiced anger on Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso for sending an offering of a potted tree to the Yasukuni shrine for war dead, long a source of discord between the two Asian powers. Then tell me, what would he do with them then? There is no more to be done so it should stay that way.. The Patriots lost a valuable draft pick that could help their aging team along with a hefty fine.