Chinese media reported Tuesday the launch of Japan’s new Cabinet by calling it one led by hawkish politicians who support Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s visits to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine.
Newspapers’ reports focused particularly on Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Aso, introducing them as supporters of the shrine visits, which is a major point of contention between China and Japan.
“Japan’s new Cabinet tilts to the right in a serious way,” said the headline in the Beijing Youth Daily, a popular newspaper in the Chinese capital.
“The new Japanese Cabinet is led by supporters of visits to the Yasukuni Shrine,” the paper said, carrying a picture of Abe with a stern face.