The official Chinese media speculate that Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan had a political motive for apologizing to Korea but not China in an official statement about Japan's colonial rule on Tuesday. In a front-page headline story on Wednesday, the Global Times, a sister newspaper of the People's Daily, said the timing of the apology was "very sensitive." That it only addressed Korea "touched a raw nerve in the region."
The daily pointed out that Japan apologized to all its Asian neighbors on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in 1995, but it has never apologized to China alone. The daily speculates that Tuesday's statement was the start signal for Tokyo and Seoul to huddle closer together and face off against Beijing.
Lu Chao of the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences wrote, "Japan apologized only to Korea, even though it committed a graver crime against China. This must have something to do with the Northeast Asian situation that has developed" in the wake of North Korea's sinking of the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan. "This shows that Tokyo is apparently attempting to further cement its alliance with Seoul and Washington."