Speed Read: China and Japan

Thawing relations between China and Japan were last week flash-frozen again after Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi snubbed Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi by canceling their meeting at the last minute; China later noted that Koizumi's recent comments on visiting the Yasukuni Shrine to honor Japan's war dead made "it unfavorable to the healthy development of Sino-Japanese relations." Here's how a single shrine continues to keep Asia's two powerhouses at odds:

What is Yasukuni? Built in 1869, it's a Shinto shrine in central Tokyo honoring the souls of Japanese killed in battle since the Meiji Restoration. Names of...

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