The Japanese themselves should decide (not the U.S. or any other foreign power) whether to apologize or not for past decisions made in their name. An apology would be a sign of political maturity (for democratic institutions) as well as peace offering to Asian neighbors who believe they were victimized by Japanese imperialism during this period. It would symbolize Japan's acknowledgment and responsibility for past actions as well as their ability to move forward. Unfortunately, this seems not to be the case.
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Today: March 01, 2007 at
11:9:58 PST
By KOZO
MIZOGUCHI
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOKYO (AP) -
Japan's nationalist prime minister denied
Thursday that the country's military forced women into sexual slavery during World
War II, casting doubt on a past government apology and jeopardizing a fragile
detente with his Asian neighbors.
The comments by Shinzo Abe, a member of a group
of lawmakers pushing to roll back a 1993 apology to the sex slaves, were his
clearest statement as prime minister on military brothels known in Japan as
"comfort stations."
Historians say some 200,000 women - mostly from Korea and China
- served in the Japanese military brothels throughout Asia
in the 1930s and 1940s. Many victims say they were kidnapped and forced into
sexual slavery by Japanese troops.
But Abe, who since taking office in September
has promoted patriotism in Japan's
schools and a more assertive foreign policy, told reporters there was no proof
the women were forced into prostitution.
"The fact is, there is no evidence to prove
there was coercion," Abe said.
His remarks contradicted evidence in Japanese
documents unearthed in 1992 that historians said showed military authorities
had a direct role in working with contractors to forcibly procure women for the
brothels.
The documents, which are backed up by accounts
from soldiers and victims, said Japanese authorities set up the brothels in
response to uncontrolled rape sprees by invading Japanese soldiers in East Asia.
In 1993, then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono
apologized to the victims of sex slavery, though the statement did not meet
demands by former "comfort women" that it be approved by parliament.
Two years later, the government set up a compensation fund for victims, but it
was based on private donations - not government money - and has been criticized
as a way for the government to avoid owning up to the abuse.
The mandate for the fund is to expire March 31.
Abe's comments were certain to rile South Korea and China,
which accuse Tokyo
of failing to fully atone for wartime atrocities. Abe's government has been
recently working to repair relations with Seoul
and Beijing.
The statement came just hours after South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun marked a national holiday honoring the anniversary of a
1919 uprising against Japanese colonial rule by urging Tokyo to come clean
about its past.
Roh also referred to hearings held by the U.S.
House of Representatives last month on a resolution urging Japan to
"apologize for and acknowledge" the imperial army's use of sex slaves
during the war.
"The testimony reiterated a message that no
matter how hard the Japanese try to cover the whole sky with their hand, there
is no way that the international community would condone the atrocities
committed during Japanese colonial rule," Roh said.
Dozens of people also rallied outside the
Japanese Embassy in Seoul
to mark the anniversary, lining up dead dogs' heads on the ground with pieces
of paper in their mouths listing names of Koreans who allegedly collaborated
with the Japanese during its 1910-45 colonial rule. Protest organizers said the
animals were slaughtered at a restaurant; dogs are regularly consumed as food
in Korea.
Roh's office said late Thursday it did not
immediately have a direct response to the Japanese leader's remarks. In Beijing, calls to the
Chinese Foreign Ministry seeking comment on the remarks were not immediately
returned.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack would
not comment on Abe's statement. "I'll let the Japanese political system
deal with that," he said.
The sex slave question has been a cause celebre
for nationalist politicians and scholars in Japan who claim the women were
professional prostitutes and were not coerced into servitude by the military.
Before Abe spoke Thursday, a group of ruling
Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers discussed their plans to push for an
official revision of Kono's 1993 apology.
Nariaki Nakayama, chairman of the group of about
120 lawmakers, sought to play down the government's involvement in the brothels
by saying it was similar to a school that hires a company to run its cafeteria.
"Some say it is useful to compare the
brothels to college cafeterias run by private companies, who recruit their own
staff, procure foodstuffs, and set prices," he said.
"Where there's demand, businesses crop up
... but to say women were forced by the Japanese military into service is off
the mark," he said. "This issue must be reconsidered, based on truth
... for the sake of Japanese honor."
Sex slave victims, however, say they still
suffer wounds - physical and psychological - from the war.
Lee Yong-soo, 78, a South Korean who was
interviewed during a recent trip to Tokyo, said
she was 14 when Japanese soldiers took her from her home in 1944 to work as a
sex slave in Taiwan.
"The Japanese government must not run from
its responsibilities," said Lee, who has long campaigned for Japanese
compensation. "I want them to apologize. To admit that they took me away,
when I was a little girl, to be a sex slave. To admit that history."
---
AP writer Burt Herman contributed to this report
from Seoul, South Korea.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2007/mar/01/030100716.html
The world is a skirt I want to lift up.
-Hanif Kureishi, author (1954- )