Rightists rub salt into the wounds of history

Politicians and bureaucrats have the historical responsibility to lead their people toward a new future. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre. The National Memorial Day of the Nanjing Massacre will be observed on Wednesday, and the Chinese people hope the Japanese right-wing politicians would face history squarely and be cautious with their words and deeds at this sensitive time.

Japanese right-wing politicians' comments and activities are mostly responsible for the setbacks in Sino-Japanese relations. These politicians don't have any sense of history or strategic vision. Of late, when China-Japan ties were showing signs of improvement, about 60 Japanese lawmakers chose to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors among others 14 Class-A war criminals of World War II, casting yet another shadow on bilateral relations.

Japanese politics and diplomacy display two weird phenomena: right-wing politicians holding on their warped view of history and the government turning a blind eye toward their activities while pursuing an equally biased form of diplomacy.