Japanese PM, be as good as your word
China Daily  Updated: 2005-04-23 06:04

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's remorse and apology are familiar to our ears.

They echo previous apologies from Japanese leaders.

Koizumi told the Asia-Africa Summit yesterday in Indonesia that he expressed "deep remorse" and "heartfelt apology" for his country's colonial aggression.

"In the past, Japan through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations. Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility," Koizumi was quoted by international wire services as saying in Jakarta.

Back in 1995 when the 50th anniversary of the end of the World War II was commemorated, the then-Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said, "During a certain period in the not too distant past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations. In the hope that no such mistake be made in the future, I regard, in a spirit of humility, these irrefutable facts of history, and express here once again my feelings of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology."

What astonishing parallels!

The wording is not the point because we have heard a plethora of "remorse" or "apologies" from Japanese leaders.

Koizumi uttered the same words in 2001 when he visited the Memorial Hall of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Beijing.

We hope Koizumi will mean what he said yesterday.

When our people and others in Asian countries are of one mind in asking for an apology from Japan for its invasion more than 60 years ago, they do not mean to haggle over every ounce of the accuracy from history.

What is disappointing and infuriating is the Japanese leaders' failure to honour the remorse that Emperor Hirohito and their predecessors felt for this dark part in Japan's past.

What Asian people want is for Japanese leaders to be as good as their word if they are serious about their soul-searching on the issue.

Even while Koizumi was telling the world of his remorse, what happened in his backyard yesterday was a slap in his face.

Eighty members of the Japanese parliament and representatives of another 88 paid homage at to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where convicted war criminals like the executed Tojo Hideki are enshrined with the country's war dead. All but one of the lawmakers and their representatives belong to Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party.

Shrine visits are understandable in certain aspects. Those who gave their life to their countries deserve the respect of survivors and the generations to come. But honouring and paying tribute to the dead, who, in Murayama's words, "ensnared the Japanese people in a fateful crisis," is beyond our comprehension.

The intentionally blurred line between black and white is a real show of Japan's attitude toward that disturbing part of its history.

Japanese politicians cannot go back on their word time and again as if nothing has happened. Still, the Japanese Government approves a history textbook, which glosses over Japan's invasion of Asian countries during the World War II on the grounds that the government cannot interfere with the compilation of textbooks.

Sounds democratic governance?

A democratic system does not work by throwing dirt on democracy.

An apology for one time is enough if it is taken seriously.

What really matters is a clear and consistent policy regarding the so-called "remorse."

Shall we put our faith in Koizumi's word this time?

(China Daily 04/23/2005 page4)

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