All eyes on Koizumi, 8/15/06

Just as I mentioned on 7/13, "July is not August, when August 15^th, the date that Japan declares to be defeated in 1945, weather Mr. Koizumi will visit Yasukuni or not will draw a line for his legacy." Xinhua has a special analysis on Koizumi's possiblilty of visiting the Yasukuni shrine.

Author of the article, Feng Zhaokui, a scholar of Institue of Japan studies, China's Social Science Academy, descibed Koizumi as irrational, lack of strategy, a gambler, and China shouldn't take Koizumi seriously. "中国不以小泉为对手，是因为小泉不是个有战略头脑的政治家，说得白一点，就是此人缺乏思想，水平太差，只不过是一个政治玩家或赌家."

This article sounds like a warning bell to Koizumi, the message is "don't play fire." It also serves as a signal to Japan, before the election of a new Prime Minister in Sepember, that China will not get along with any future leaders who are going to visit the Yasukuni Shrine.

Does the tone sound familiar? In 1996, before Taiwan was going to elect a new president, China shot missiles into the sea. The result...