Reference News, October 8th report. According to Kyodo News, on October 7th, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Takahashi Sanae, has been coordinating to refrain from visiting Yasukuni Shrine during the autumn regular festival from October 17th to 19th. Multiple related individuals revealed this information on October 7th.
The report said that Takahashi has always been concerned about the support of conservative voters. Even during her time as a minister, she has visited Yasukuni Shrine multiple times on August 15th, when Japan announced its surrender in World War II, and during the spring and autumn festivals. Considering that continuing to visit will inevitably cause strong opposition from China and South Korea, Takahashi believes that the issue of visiting Yasukuni Shrine should be avoided from causing diplomatic disputes.
On October 7th, the representative of the Komeito Party, Saito Tetsuo, held talks with Takahashi, during which he stated, "The issue of visiting Yasukuni Shrine should not develop into a diplomatic problem." Both sides agreed on this view.
The report also said that the U.S. and Japan are coordinating for President Trump's visit to Japan from October 27th to 29th. In addition, Japan is looking for an opportunity to hold talks with China during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' informal meeting in South Korea at the end of this month. Given these factors, a close associate of Takahashi said, "We should avoid causing any trouble before the summit meetings." (Translation/ Liu Lin)
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7558734519395500583/
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