Some reflection, but more needed
- By Liu Qiang
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E-mail China Daily, August 17, 2015
Admittedly though, his fine-honed statement did make a few amendments, even improvements, to the Murayama Statement and the one delivered by then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi on the 60th anniversary of the victory of World War II.
For one, Abe made a fresh acknowledgment of the sexual violence during the war, despite failing to directly refer to the about 200,000 "comfort women" from China, the Korean Peninsula and the Philippines, who were forced into sex slavery in Japanese military brothels. He spoke of a host of women whose "dignity and honor were severely injured during wars in the 20th century", which is indeed a step forward for Abe and his predecessors.
Besides, Abe shed new light on Japan's militarist mentality, confessing that Japan launched its war to "overcome its diplomatic and economic deadlock" by force, which he deemed was wrong. His remarks also acknowledged Japan's wartime culpability which made "numerous innocent citizens suffer and fall victim to battles", as well as a commitment that the country will "never again resort to incident, aggression or war", and it will "abandon colonial rule forever".
It is still too early to say whether Abe means his words or not, but his verbally confusing statement will undoubtedly provoke criticism about why he refused to make a proper apology.
More importantly, should Japan truly want to adopt a pacifist path, the Abe administration is obliged to keep its latest promise, which shows rare objective reflections on the country's past crimes and relations with other Asian nations. Therefore, if Tokyo continues to expand its military power and exercise the right to collective self-defense by reinterpreting Japan's pacifist Constitution, the "Abe Statement" will be regarded both at home and abroad as an insincere show under pressure.
The author is a professor at and director of the International Security Research Center affiliated to the PLA International Relations University.
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