Abe aides cast dark cloud

The world should be increasingly vigilant against the moves of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe toward historical revisionism, as his expert panel set up to advise him on his statement to mark the end of World War II is nothing but a smoke screen serving to hide his real intentions.

According to the summary of the panel's second round debate on historical issues, the 16-member panel quibbled about "whether it is appropriate to determine that the war was an act of aggression based on present values", with the majority insisting that "Japan should not be the only one to blame as aggression was also conducted by the Allied Forces" and the word "aggression" should not be used in Abe's statement.

With no self-reflection in sight, the panel is seeking to ensure that Abe's historical revisionism makes a soft landing in his statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war against fascism.