JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed “deep remorse” yesterday for Japan’s World War II aggression at a summit attended by Asian leaders, but stopped short of repeating previous apologies.

    Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Abe held a meeting at the request of the Japanese side on the sidelines of the Asian-African leaders’ meeting yesterday, Xinhua reported.

    The speech by Abe, a strident nationalist, at the Asia-Africa Summit in Jakarta was being closely watched for clues about a statement he is due to make later this year marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

    Observers are waiting to see whether he will make direct reference to his country’s “colonial rule and aggression” and express “remorse” and apologies, as previous premiers did on the 50th and 60th anniversaries.

    He suggested in a TV interview this week he will not repeat a formal apology in that statement.

    For China and South Korea, which suffered under the yoke of Japan’s imperial ambition, Abe’s language is a crucial marker of Tokyo’s acceptance of guilt for its march across Asia in the 1930s and 1940s, which left millions dead.

    At the start of the two-day summit, which commemorates a key conference 60 years ago that helped emerging nations forge a common identity, he offered weaker remarks than previous Japanese leaders — potentially a bad omen for the closely watched statement later this year.

    Referring to principles of peace laid down at the original conference, he told delegates: “And Japan, with feelings of deep remorse over the past war, made a pledge to remain a nation always adhering to those very principles throughout, no matter what the circumstances.”

    The weak statement is particularly notable as then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi offered a “heartfelt apology” and referred to “colonial rule and aggression” at an Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta in 2005, echoing language in a landmark 1995 statement.

    Abe’s Jakarta speech was just his latest move that risks inflaming regional tensions — it came after he this week sent an offering to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, the supposed repository of the country’s war dead including 14 infamous war criminals.

    Also yesterday, more than 100 Japanese lawmakers visited the shrine, which China and South Korea view as a symbol of Japan’s unwillingness to repent for aggressive warring, drawing a swift rebuke from Beijing and Seoul.

    But despite Abe’s notable failure to offer up a full apology at the summit, there were indications of warming ties between Xi and Abe with the meeting.

    Next week Abe is also expected to make a deeply symbolic visit to Washington’s World War II memorial.

    The visit will come before Abe becomes the first Japanese prime minister in history to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress.(SD-Agencies)