CAMBRIDGE, England -- Get out the bunting! Li Peng is on his way! One of the people that former U.S. President Bill Clinton described as the "butchers of Beijing" and now chairman of the National People's Congress, or China's "rubber stamp" Parliament, Li was the Chinese premier at the time of the Tiananmen massacre. He personally signed the order invoking martial law, which paved the way for the troops to move in.
The adopted son of China's revered leader Zhou Enlai, Li has never been regarded as a friendly sort of guy. He will not be found in karaoke bars while he is in Tokyo. What he might do, though, is ask Japan to apologize for the atrocities committed by Japanese troops in China during World War II and in the years leading up to it. Chinese President Jiang Zemin asked for one during his visit, although the graceless way in which he asked for it probably set back Sino-Japanese relations a couple of years.
Is an apology still warranted? Yes. Should it be given to Li? No.