Kawamura Takashi, mayor of Nagoya, hurt Chinese people's feelings for his publicly denial of the Nanjing Massacre. [File photo]

Kawamura Takashi, mayor of Nagoya, Japan is considered conscienceless and ignorant for his publicly denial of the Nanjing Massacre. He not only refused to apologize for his words and deeds which seriously hurt the Chinese people's feelings, but even impudently claimed his hope of maintaining the friendly relations with Nanjing.

The Chinese people are willing to maintain friendly relations with peoples of the world. However, friendship is based on principles, and forgetting history means betrayal. In fact, the essence of the disputes over historical facts is a battle between justice and evil. The Chinese people are always unequivocal to the questions relating to the national dignity.

The Chinese government and Nanjing officials have shown their solemn and just stand. Numerous Chinese Internet users also expressed their anger by announcing Kawamura Takashi as "persona non grata" and boycotting travels to Nagoya. As the mayor, Kawamura Takashi's remarks in formal official occasions were not made in his so called personal capacity. No wonder the Chinese people are so resentful at Kawamura Takashi.

According to reports, by the evening of Feb. 21, the Nagoya municipal government had received 80 "public opinions", among which 55 agreed with Kawamura Takashi's denial of the Nanjing Massacre, and 25 opposed. The absolute quantities of the two numbers were not large enough to serve as the basis for public opinion survey, but it indicated Kawamura Takashi's irresponsible remarks were not an isolated phenomenon. It indeed has certain social basis in Japan.

As a nation, Japan lacks of thorough introspections to face the history of aggression or to redeem their hearts. Such viewpoints from the world have been repeatedly reinforced by a serial of events in Japan, such as the revision of history textbooks, and Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. Kawamura Takashi and his supporters have increased the disorder of international community once again.

Japan must pay the price for denying the historical facts of launching aggressive wars against China and hurting the feelings of Chinese people. It is time for Japan to take its responsibilities not only for history, but for the China-Japan relationship now and in the future.

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