Reflections on
Atrocities in
2007-12-R8
(Copyrighted 2007 by Don M. Tow)
Seventy years have passed since the Nanking Massacre.
The Nanking Massacre is undeniable, because it
was
witnessed and
well documented at that time by many people, including western journalists,
businessmen, diplomats, missionaries, and other international observers.
However,
the Japanese
government has never officially (i.e., with a resolution passed by their
Parliament) admitted to the Nanking Massacre,
or other atrocities committed by the Japanese military during WWII, even
though descriptions of these atrocities have also been found in the diaries
and recorded interviews of former Japanese soldiers.
As a matter of fact, many Japanese leaders and the Japanese mass media have
said on many occasions that there were
no
such atrocities,
and that those atrocities were fabricated by the
Chinese.
An example of such
statement
was the one made in March 2007 by
the
then
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who denied that
during WWII
the Japanese
military had forced foreign women into sexual slavery,
euphemistically called Comfort Women.
Unlike the German government who has
admitted its holocaust atrocities during WWII and paid compensations to the
victims or their families,
the Japanese government has not done likewise.
How much longer does the world have to wait
before justice is done?
It seems that unless both significant political
pressure and economic pressure are applied to the Japanese government,
justice will not be achieved, and there will be no assurance that such
atrocities will not be repeated again in the future, in
It is heartening to see that recently the governments of several countries
have passed resolutions condemning the actions of the Japanese military
associated with Comfort Women and called on the Japanese government to
officially acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility for
these actions.
U.S.:
The House of Representatives on 7/30/07 passed House Resolution 121,
which read in part “that the government of Japan
should
formally
acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear
and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young
women into sexual slavery, known to the world as `comfort women', during
its colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from
the 1930s through the duration of World War II
. . .
should
educate current and future generations about this horrible crime while
following the recommendations of the international community with
respect to the
`comfort women'.”
Canada:
The Canadian Parliament on 11/29/07 passed a motion that called on Japan
to “take
full responsibility for the involvement of the Japanese Imperial Forces
in the system of forced prostitution, including through a formal and
sincere apology to all of those who were victims”
and “to
clearly and publicly refute any claims that the sexual enslavement and
trafficking of the ’comfort women’ never occurred.”
http://www.korea.net/News/News/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20071129030
http://en.ce.cn/World/Europe/200711/21/t20071121_13673040.shtml
Europe:
The European Parliament passed a
resolution
on 12/13/07
urging
Apparently political pressure is being applied to
It is important to emphasize that we have nothing
against the Japanese people.
We just want to make sure that this part of
history is not forgotten and that such atrocities will not be repeated again
in the world. We
hope that with enough political pressure and economic pressure, our
objective will be achieved.
It
is important to keep in mind the following two quotes:
For a related
article on the Nanking Massacre, see the article “Watershed Event in
Teaching WWII Asian History in NJ Schools” in the “Political/Social
Commentary” page of this release.
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