TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who has infuriated China by visiting a controversial war shrine, said on Thursday he had learned from Chinese wisdom and so would stay quiet after he retires.

“Someone told me that in China, a tradition is that once they step down, leaders do not interfere with politics,” Mr Koizumi said of his expected retirement in September.

“I want to learn from that,” he said.

“It would not be good if I meddle with things after I leave office, would it?” Mr Koizumi said.

Media have been rife with speculation that Mr Koizumi supports Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe to replace him in September, when the premier’s term as the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party expires.

But Yasuo Fukuda, a dove who has distanced himself from Mr Koizumi after being his right-hand man, is gaining popularity to become the next leader.

Mr Koizumi, the longest serving Japanese premier in three decades, said he would eventually show whom he supports.

China has refused top-level talks with Mr Koizumi due to his annual pilgrimage to Yasukuni shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including 14 top war criminals. —AFP