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Beijing: Tokyo must back words with actions
By Hu Xiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-16 06:03

"It is also the political foundation of improving Sino-Japanese ties," he said.

A group of Taiwanese women forced to work as sex slaves during World War II, along with their supporters, throw their fists in the air while chanting slogans during a protest outside Japan's Interchange Association office in Taipei yesterday, demanding an official apology and compensation from Tokyo. [AFP]
The Koizumi statement, which the Japanese cabinet adopted earlier in the day, was the first of its kind issued by a prime minister on the anniversary since 1995, when then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama apologized for Japan's past wrongdoings for the first time as premier.

"Our country has caused tremendous damage and pain to the peoples of many countries, especially Asian countries, through colonial rule and invasion. Humbly acknowledging such facts of history, I once again reflect most deeply and offer apologies from my heart as well as express my condolences to all the victims of the last major war both in and out of the country," Koizumi said.

Japanese Emperor Akihito yesterday also expressed hopes that Japan will never again wage war.

"Looking back on history, I ardently hope that the horrors of war will never be repeated," the emperor said at a memorial service.

On the same day, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura underscored the importance of Japan and its Asian neighbours establishing better ties.

Relations between China and Japan have soured recently, mainly because of Tokyo's efforts to whitewash wartime history.

Japan's education ministry's approval of a nationalist-written history textbook that plays down Japan's aggressive past, and Koizumi's annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, have sparked strong protests from Asian countries including China and the Republic of Korea.
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