Every year the protest rally is organized on the anniversary of the allied victory in World War II that help free Korean Peninsula from Japanese colonial rule. “At a time when Japan was losing confidence because of a recession, an illiberal form of nationalism appeared, and people began insisting that these ideas were ‘apology diplomacy” and that there ‘never was a war of aggression, ‘” he noted.
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Depending on which words he uses, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe could either further roil his country’s relations with China and South Korea or boost ongoing efforts to improve them.
Mr Abe said Japan’s unique position as the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons means it has a responsibility to work against their proliferation. However, what we will hear from Japanese Emperor Akihito on August 15 will be equally-if not more-important.
“On the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, I bow my head deeply before the souls of all those who perished both at home and overseas”.
Abe, seen by critics as a revisionist who wants to play down the dark side of Japan’s wartime past, has said he will express “deep remorse” for the war and uphold past government statements, including Murayama’s landmark remarks.
Japan would not be able to do this without the tacit approval of the Washington, which needs the cooperation of allies like Tokyo and Seoul to carry out its Asia-Pacific strategy, Zhang said.
KUHN: Japan’s Cabinet is expected to approve Abe’s statement tomorrow, before he delivers it. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Tokyo.
Other signatories of the document include former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, Li Zhaoxing, a former Chinese foreign minister, Haruki Wada, an emeritus professor of Tokyo University, and former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale. “I will properly follow the path of peace to construct a prosperous and proud Japan”.
It occurred just steps away from where protesters were demanding justice for the Thousands of South Korean women forced to work as sex slaves in Japanese military brothels.
“Signs of extremism are on the rise as some victims of Japan’s colonial rule grow older without their demands being resolved”, he said.
“Undeniably, this was an act, with the involvement of the military authorities of the day, that severely injured the honour and dignity of many women”.
The Japanese government has formally apologized on numerous occasions for the atrocities against the women, who are known as comfort women.
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It is extremely unsafe for someone harbouring such problematic views on history to dramatically change the Japanese pacifist Constitution and allow its Self-Defense Forces to fight overseas for the first time in 70 years.
