{"id":4650,"date":"2017-06-01T03:00:10","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T07:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dontow.com\/?p=4650"},"modified":"2017-06-01T09:06:37","modified_gmt":"2017-06-01T13:06:37","slug":"how-to-understand-japans-intransigent-policy-toward-her-wwii-atrocities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/2017\/06\/how-to-understand-japans-intransigent-policy-toward-her-wwii-atrocities\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Understand Japan’s Intransigent Policy Toward Her WWII Atrocities?"},"content":{"rendered":"
More than 70 years have elapsed since the end of WWII during which the Japanese military committed massive and inhumane atrocities all over Asia, especially in China.\u00a0 These atrocities included the Nanking Massacre, Comfort Women (CW, or sexual slavery), Biological and Chemical Warfare (BCW), Vivisection on live people (including American POWs), and Slave Labor.<\/p>\n
Yet the Japanese government still has not formally acknowledged, apologized, and compensated for these inhumane acts.\u00a0 And whenever the Japanese government issued some sort of acknowledgement, invariably, a short time afterward it was followed by one or more statements stating the opposite.\u00a0 Also, many years ago when Japan tried to set up a fund to provide funding to former Korean CWs, it was mostly rejected by the Korean CWs because it was a private entity and was not a government entity and did not come with an official Japanese government apology.<\/p>\n
Instead, many Japanese leaders have on many occasions made statements that the atrocities did not exist, over exaggerated, or fabricated by the Chinese or the Koreans.\u00a0 Many Japanese leaders, including her Prime Ministers, have paid tribute at the Yasukuni Shrine where 14 Class A convicted and executed WWII war criminals are enshrined; this is analogous to the German Chancellor paying tribute at a memorial for Adolf Hitler.\u00a0 Furthermore, starting about 35 years ago, Japan has been revising her history textbooks about WWII history, including trying a few years ago to change American history textbooks on WWII history.<\/p>\n
Why?\u00a0 Various reasons have been offered, including the following.\u00a0 Japan was really trying to defend herself when the West was trying to cut off her oil supply.\u00a0 Admitting to such massive and horrific atrocities is too much of an attack on the Japanese character and losing too much face.\u00a0 Admitting to errors and defeats is contrary to the bushido spirit, or a Samurai way of life.\u00a0 These atrocities were just consequences of war and were understandable.\u00a0 The Japanese soldiers were just following the orders of their Emperor, who was considered to be God and could do no wrong.<\/p>\n
In this essay, I like to offer another explanation which not only can explain the question posed in this essay’s title, but also can provide a clearer understanding of several aspects of world geopolitics.
\n<\/p>\n
Proposed Approach<\/span>:\u00a0 <\/strong>In order to understand the Japanese government’s position toward her WWII atrocities, we need to consider what has been the policy of the U.S. toward China from the time that it appeared that the Communist Party would win the civil war in China back in the second half of the 1940s to today.\u00a0 For the last 70 years, the U.S. policy toward China basically has been a policy to surround, isolate, and weaken China, as we have already discussed in the article “U.S.-China Relationship Can Use Another Anson Burlingame”<\/a> posted in the December 2016 release of this website.\u00a0 We summarize the main points of that article:<\/em><\/p>\n Implications<\/span>:\u00a0 <\/strong>There are several implications that we can draw from this long U.S. foreign policy for\u00a0 China during roughly the last 70 years:<\/p>\n Therefore, we can conclude that a major reason that Japan has not acknowledged or apologized for her massive and inhumane atrocities that she inflicted all over Asia is very much related to the U.S.’ long-standing foreign policy toward China to surround, isolate, and weaken China.\u00a0 Instead of pressing Japan to acknowledge and apologize for her WWII crimes, U.S. has cultivated Japan to serve as the U.S.’s front-line pawn against China.<\/p>\n In the Best Interests of the U.S. and the American People?<\/u>\u00a0 <\/strong>During the 70+ years of the U.S.\u2019s surround\/isolate\/weaken foreign policy toward China, China might have been surrounded and often isolated, but she is definitely not getting weaker nor isolated. Based on the number of countries showing interest in China\u2019s \u201cOne Belt One Road\u201d initiative to interconnect China with most of Asia and Europe and northeastern part of Africa and the related Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), China is growing economically stronger, and more connected with the global economy.<\/p>\n Allying so closely will Japan could result in irreparable damage to the U.S.\u2019 claim as an advocate of justice and human rights, since Japan has not admitted and apologized for the massive and inhumane atrocities that she inflicted all over Asia during WWII.<\/p>\n Through various mutual-defense treaties, the U.S. is ready to go to war with China over disputes that the U.S. has no legal or moral reasons to be involved. A war with China would be an extremely costly and protracted war, perhaps involving nuclear weapons. There will be no winners in a nuclear war in the 21st<\/sup> century between the world\u2019s top two economies.<\/p>\n While competing with China, instead of adopting an uncalled-for antagonistic attitude, the U.S. should work together with China to solve many of the world\u2019s critical problems, such as fighting against terrorism, environmental protection, world hunger, and world peace. At the same time, the U.S. can join China and other countries to improve inter-country, inter-continent infrastructure, e.g., transportation via high-speed trains, bridges and underwater tunnels connecting territories separated by water. Working together on these projects not only is beneficial to the world, but U.S. companies and workers would also share in the benefits of working on these huge, cutting-edge, and profitable projects, which could lead to vast economic opportunities for the U.S.<\/p>\n Instead of adopting a Tonya Harding-like foreign policy to unfairly attack her main competitor, the U.S. should focus its energy to look within herself to improve her country\u2019s competitiveness as a whole, which should bring vast economic benefits to the American people.<\/p>\n In the long run, the current U.S. policy to surround, isolate, and weaken China is not in the best interests of the U.S. and the American people.\u00a0 The world, especially the American people, must persuade the U.S. government to discontinue her antagonistic policy toward China, and should seek a win-win-win situation, win for the U.S., win for China, and win for other countries and for world-peace.<\/p>\n ———————————-<\/p>\n [1] See, e.g.:\u00a0 Factories Of Death: Japanese Biological Warfare, 1932-1945, and the American Cover-Up<\/em><\/a>,<\/span> by Sheldon H. Harris, Routledge, 1994. ISBN-10:1568656556.\u00a0 A Plague Upon Humanity: The Hidden History of Japan\u2019s Biological Warfare Program<\/em><\/span><\/a>, by Daniel Barenblatt, HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 978-0-06-093387-6.\u00a0 Article by American medical historian Dr. Martin Furmanski in the book Blood-Weeping Accusations:\u00a0 Records of Anthrax Victims<\/em><\/span><\/a>,<\/strong> by Li Xiaofang, 2005.<\/p>\n [2] Herbert P. Nix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan<\/u><\/em><\/a>, Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd; 2001.<\/p>\n [3] David Bergamini, Japan\u2019s Imperial Conspiracy<\/span><\/a>, William Morrow, 1971.\u00a0 I thank Adam Jonas Horowitz for informing me about David Bergamini and his 1971 book.<\/p>\n [4] Kenneth Conboy is a former policy analyst and deputy director at the Heritage Foundation, and the late James Morrison was a thirty-year Army veteran and the last training officer for the CIA-sponsored Unity project.<\/p>\n [5] For background information and a discussion of this issue, see Don M. Tow, \u201cSouth China Sea Dispute:\u00a0 Abuse of World Power,\u201d China-US Focus<\/u><\/em>, September 15, 2016:\u00a0 http:\/\/www.chinausfocus.com\/foreign-policy\/south-china-sea-dispute-abuse-of-world-power<\/a>.<\/p>\n [6] “Japanese Medical School Museum Exhibits Vivisection Display on American POWs.”<\/a>\u00a0<\/a> For the full article, see The Japan Time News, 04-04-2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n [7] See, e.g., Bataan Death March: A Survivor\u2019s Account<\/em><\/span><\/a>, by William E. Dyess, Bison Books, 2002. ISBN-10:0803266332, and Courage on Bataan and Beyond: Memories of an American POW who was a slave of the Japanese during WWII<\/em><\/span> for 3 1\/2 years<\/a>, by Abel Ortega, AuthorHouse, 2005. ISBN-10:1420863843<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" More than 70 years have elapsed since the end of WWII during which the Japanese military committed massive and inhumane atrocities all over Asia, especially in China.\u00a0 These atrocities included the Nanking Massacre, Comfort Women (CW, or sexual slavery), Biological and Chemical Warfare (BCW), Vivisection on live people (including American POWs), and Slave Labor. Yet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4650"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4792,"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4650\/revisions\/4792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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