How shall we discuss the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II? Abe is certainly tongue-tied about it. The Japanese public is concerned that 2015 will become Abe’s “difficult year” for foreign relations. They think that Japan’s image will become damaged through “historical entanglements” throughout this 70th anniversary of the war against fascism. The United States is urging Japan to apologize to its neighboring countries for its past acts and to revitalize its relations with them for the future.
Many Internet users believe that the United States and Japan are working in collaboration: “Quit it with the games already! It doesn’t matter if Abe apologizes, who believes him?” “It’s only when the U.S. asks them to that Japan apologizes … that’s hardly sincere now, is it?” “Even if there is an apology it’s just evasive and means absolutely nothing.” “On the one hand, the U.S. lets the knife slip into the hands of criminals, then it runs about frantically yelling ‘don’t harm anyone.’”
Abe won’t relinquish his protective grip on the corpses of Japan’s most infamous World War II war criminals, and he wholeheartedly wants to revive Japanese militarism. When forming his third cabinet at the start of the year, Abe selected the “pacifist activists” he had advocated and began to “oversee global diplomacy.” Abe refuses to even admit the history of aggression his country engaged in, and yet he has the gall to presume he can speak about “peace activism”? What nerve! When China’s rise in economic power surpassed even that of Japan, Americans tried to contain China by allowing the Japanese right wing to take shape and flood the government. Today’s Japan demands our strong vigilance whenever it makes a move.
During his new year’s reflections, Japan’s emperor Akihito said, “On this, the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Japan should take the opportunity to reflect and learn from the ‘Manchurian Incident’ [or the Mukden Incident] and the history surrounding the war. Then from this Japan should consider the path forward. These are important things to consider in this day and age.” Japan’s right wing criticized the emperor by saying that phrases like “to understand history accurately” — no matter whether it comes from the mouths of China, Korea or anyone else — is absolutely unacceptable. They fought back further, saying that the emperor cannot, by constitution, make a political statement. They said that his words were an unconstitutional infringement of the royal family’s governing power. Against the emperor’s just voice of reason, Japan’s right wing recoiled with fear and hatred.
Japan continues to refuse to recognize the consensus it reached with China regarding the Diaoyu Islands issue. In the United Kingdom, recently declassified documents prove that Japan is lying about not reaching a consensus with China on the Diaoyu islands and shelving the territorial disputes surrounding them. Abe’s foot had scarcely left Beijing when Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida burst into the spotlight and immediately fired off comments that were contrary to the four-point consensus that Japan and China had reached on the Diaoyu Islands issue. He said that, insofar as the Diaoyu Islands issue was concerned, the Japanese government had not changed its position, and that “no territorial dispute existed.” The Japanese people are fickle, and the citizens of the world can clearly see that Abe’s apologies cannot be believed.
Japan has raised its collective self-defense forces and took strides forward but retreated a step or two when some felt moving too quickly would be inauspicious. This cannot be tolerated any more. Japan must completely and utterly eliminate the breeding ground for its right wing. It must become like Germany and completely admit its past history of aggression. This is the only acceptable option if Japan wants to coexist peacefully with its neighbors.
The United States is the original instigator of the “Diaoyu Islands” farce, as well as the motivating force behind the revival of Japan’s fascist militarism. In their speech, the U.S. advocates world peace, but in its deeds the U.S. simply moves with whatever opportunities for profit exist in any given moment. Isn’t it the U.S. who is always pushing Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam into stirring up trouble with China? Isn’t it the U.S. who also wants to put 60 percent of its military force right at China’s doorstep?
On the surface, the U.S. wants Japan to apologize, because behind the scenes it is biding its time and waiting for an opportunity to win favor with China. The United States, the so-called “world police,” already has so much on its plate with the Ukraine crisis, Iran and its nuclear issues, the Islamic State terrorist organization and much, much more. The U.S. wants Japan to apologize to its neighbors only because its western lines are thinly stretched, and it doesn’t want any problems to its east. By speaking so openly toward Japan about apologies, the United States can assume the moral high ground and effectively kill two birds with one stone.
In today’s world, strength still means everything. China has stuck to its own policy on self-development, and eschewed all other talk about expansionism. China is no hegemony, but it isn’t about to give up its core interests or go dancing with the wolves. For China to underestimate the rhetoric from Japan’s right wing, or to underestimate the long term effects of America’s Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy, would be a grave error that it cannot afford to make.
The Chinese people are advocates of peace, but ethnic hatred is something that can never be totally eliminated. For the U.S. to collaborate with Japan in this lip-service apology is scarcely worth further commentary.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.