【明報專訊】The Chinese government
Hong Lei, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of China (中國外交部發言人洪磊, right), said on November 19 that An Jung-geun was a famous man who struggled against Japanese rule and was well-respected in China. He said the Chinese government would carry the project through.
However, some analysts have been quoted by Japanese newspapers as saying the Chinese government is not really enthusiastic about the project and has repeatedly rejected plans to commemorate the Korean assassin. According to them, the Chinese government, faced with resistance movements in regions like Xinjiang (新疆), has serious misgivings (憂慮) about glorifying a political activist, but it feels compelled to close ranks with South Korea amid heightened tensions with Japan.
The Japanese government
The Japanese government is strongly against the plan. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga (內閣官房長官菅義偉) says An is a "criminal" and should not be honoured, adding that such a plan will ruin Japanese-South Korean relations. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe (日本首相安倍晉三) earlier said Hirobumi Itō was a great man and the two countries should treat each other with respect.
South Korea
A spokesperson for the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs dismisses the Japanese government's accusation, saying An was a hero who sacrificed himself for Korean independence and peace in the Orient (東洋).
Some analysts believe there is something personal behind South Korean president Park Geun-hye's efforts to have An honoured with statuary. Her father Park Chung-hee (朴正熙) was an admirer of An and had been trying to enhance his place in history before he himself was assassinated in 1979.
