米：靖国参拝中止求める書簡 下院外交委員長

Hyde concerned about Japan PM shrine visits
Mon May 15, 2006 5:24pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a controversial Tokyo war shrine raise questions about his suitability to speak to the U.S. Congress, a senior American lawmaker said.

Henry Hyde, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, raised concerns about Koizumi's shrine visits in a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert in late April, a spokesman for Hyde said on Monday.

"It is a letter in which the chairman does raise concerns about the efficacy of an invitation to the Japanese prime minister, who continues to make controversial visits to the Yasukuni shrine," said the spokesman.

The speaker's office confirmed receiving the letter but had no further comment on its contents or on a possible invitation to Koizumi to address Congress when the Japanese leader visits the United States in June.

The spokesman declined to discuss contents of the letter, parts of which were published by Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper on Monday.

The Asahi quotes the letter from Hyde, an Illinois Republican and World War Two veteran, as calling for assurances from Koizumi the Japanese leader would not visit Yasukuni soon after making a speech to a joint session of Congress during his U.S. visit.

The shrine is seen in Asia as a symbol of Japanese militarism because convicted war criminals are honored there among Japan's 2.5 million war dead. Koizumi has visited Yasukuni each year since taking office in 2001.

According to the Asahi, Hyde warned that a visit to Yasukuni would be an affront to older Americans who remember World War Two and would dishonor the site in Congress where President Franklin D. Roosevelt made his "day of infamy" speech after the December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Hyde, who saw combat with the U.S. Navy in the Philippines, has supported the U.S. alliance with Japan. Under Koizumi, Japan has dispatched troops to Iraq and strengthened overall security cooperation with the United States.

Last year, he voiced concerns about Koizumi's Yasukuni visits and his committee held a hearing on tensions in Japan's ties with China and South Korea over the shrine issue.

靖国参拝中止求める書簡　下院外交委員長 (共同 2006/05/16)

　【ワシントン１５日共同】米議会筋は１５日、下院外交委員会のハイド委員長（共和党）が先月２６日、ハスタート下院議長あてに、６月下旬に訪米予定の小泉純一郎首相が米議会で演説を行う場合、靖国神社に参拝すべきでないとの見解を示した書簡を送付したことを明らかにした。

　同筋によると、書簡は、８月１５日に靖国神社を参拝する可能性がある首相が、日本の真珠湾攻撃後にルーズベルト大統領が演説した議会で演説することは「当惑」すべきことだと指摘。議会演説後に参拝に踏み切らないよう「事前の保証」を日本側に求めるよう促している。

小泉訪米に懸念の書簡＝靖国参拝継続で米委員長 (時事 2006/05/16)

　【ワシントン15日時事】米下院外交委員会のハイド委員長のスポークスマンは15日、靖国神社参拝を続ける小泉純一郎首相の訪米について懸念を示す書簡を先月、下院議長に送ったことを明らかにした。書簡の内容は不明だが、小泉首相が望む米議会での演説を受け入れるべきではないと主張しているとみられる。