As the three candidates running for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's job continue to debate the issues, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe has avoided giving clear positions on many of them, particularly Japan's responsibility for the war.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Abe is expected to be elected president of the Liberal Democratic Party on Sept. 20 and be made prime minister several days later. So what he has to say about the war responsibility issue could either put Sino-Japanese ties back on track or damage them further.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Chinese leaders have refused to meet Koizumi because of his repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals along with the war dead.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>However, in anticipation of a new administration, behind-the-scene negotiations are already under way to arrange a summit with the new leader and end the diplomatic stalemate between the two countries.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'It's true efforts are now being made in various forms' to arrange a summit meeting between a new Japanese leader and his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Monday during a televised debate between the three candidates at the Japan National Press Club. </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'It's clear –

has sent signals" they want to improve the Japan-China relationship, he said.

Abe's strategy has been to keep his opinions to himself about Japan's actions in the 1930s and 1940s.

Conservative politicians have caused diplomatic problems with several Asian countries, particularly China and South Korea, by saying that Japan's military actions in the 1930s and 1940s were not aggression, but self-defense. Some old-guard conservatives even try to publicly justify Japan's invasion of China and the colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

Abe has admitted, when asked directly, that Japan caused great damage and suffering to several Asian countries, particularly China and South Korea.