일본을 전쟁 가능국가로 만들 평화헌법 개정과 위안부 문제는 한-중-일 간 가장 첨예하게 논란이 돼 온 이슈다.
한국 정부는 평화헌법 개정에 반대하는 한편 위안부 문제에 대해서는 충분한 사과가 전제돼야 한다는 입장이다.
중국 정부의 입장은 어떨까?
중국 정부도 위안부 문제는 현재 일본의 자세가 미래를 향해 나가는 데 걸림돌이 되고 있다고 보고 있다.
그러나 한국 정부와 달리 10년 전부터 헌법 9조(평화헌법) 개정에 대해서는 크게 반대하지 않는 입장을 정리한 것으로 알려졌다. 위키리크스가 입수한 2007년 4월 6일자 주일미국대사관의 기밀문건이 이를 반증해주고 있다. [비밀문건; 아래 첨부]
한 외교 전문가는 “일본을 전쟁 가능국가로 만들 평화헌법 개정에 중국이 반대하지 않는다는 것은 매우 놀라운 일”이라며 “우리 정부가 중국 정부와 이 문제에 대해 깊이 있는 의견 교환을 할 필요가 있다고 본다”고 말했다.
■주일 중국 대사가 바라보는 원자바오 총리 방일, 역사 문제, 북한 문제
<원문 링크> https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/07TOKYO1518_a.html
CHINESE AMBASSDOR ON PREMIER'S VISIT, HISTORY ISSUES, NORTH KOREA
- (C) Summary: China hopes the upcoming visit by
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will help to stabilize its
relations with Japan and to clarify Japanese thinking
on the future nature of their bilateral relations,
according to Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi.
Wang stressed that joining the "consensus" on history
issues would benefit Japan's relations with China and
its other Asian neighbors. He warned that a visit by
Japanese Prime Minister Abe to the Yasukuni Shrine
would damage Japan's relations with China "greater
than in the Koizumi era." Nevertheless, he indicated
that China had become less vocal about the possibility
of Japan changing Article Nine in its constitution.
Wang praised recent U.S. handling of the question of
financial sanctions on North Korea and acknowledged
the importance of North Korea actively addressing the
problem of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea.
End summary. - Chinese Premier's Visit
- (C) Meeting with Ambassador Schieffer on April 5,
Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi said the visit of
PRC Premier Wen Jiabao had three main goals. First
was to work further toward putting Japan-China
relations on a stable track. The second objective,
Wang noted, was to confirm what Prime Minister Abe had
meant during his visit to Beijing in October 2006
about establishing a "strategic, mutually beneficial,
cooperative" relationship. Finally, Wang said the
visit would be used to identify possible new areas of
cooperation between China and Japan. -
(C) Abe represents a new generation of Japanese
politician who is looking for a more "equal"
relationship between Japan and other countries, Wang
observed. Although Abe may have felt that China had
taken a view of Japan as less than China's equal, Wang
stressed, this was a misunderstanding of China's
position. As a result, China, he indicated, had
quickly agreed to Abe's concept of strategic, mutually
beneficial, cooperative relations. China understands
the Japanese desire to be a more "normal" country,
Wang said, and hoped to turn the "vicious circle" the
relationship had fallen into during the Koizumi years
into a positive "benign circle" for the future.
way that is not destructive to overall relations among
the countries concerned. The Ambassador added that,
with Japan-China relations improving, Abe does not
appear to want to depart from a model for the
relationship that is working. That said, however, if
it appears that China is ordering Abe not to visit
Yasukuni, then the domestic political pressure on him
to visit the shrine would increase. Wang agreed with
the Ambassador's analysis, noting that, based on the
results of opinion polls in Japan, the improvement in
Japan-China relations had given Abe "political
capital" that he would not want to lose. Wang
expressed the hope that with Japan-China relations on
a steady track, the United States, Japan, and China
could engage in a three-way strategic dialogue on how
to shape the future of the northeast Asian region.
dtpchoi@wikileaks-kr.org