POLITICS: Koizumi Will Make Public Apology for Past Japanese Aggression, page 1

posted on Apr, 21 2005 @ 11:59 PM

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Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans to make a public apology to other Asian nations for Japan's World War II aggression. The speech will take place at the Asia-Africa Summit in Jakarta Indonesia today. Japan has recently become a target of protesters in China due to a textbook's glossing over details of atrocities in China during WWII and their seeking a permanent seat on the powerful UN Security Council.

www.bloomberg.com
April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will apologize for the pain his country inflicted on neighboring Asian nations before and during World War II, the government said today.

``Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations,'' Koizumi will say today, according to a government translation of his remarks. ``Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility.''

Koizumi may meet China's President Hu Jintao at a meeting of Asian and African leaders in Jakarta to help defuse the tension between the two countries that has also been fueled by Japan's bid to win a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and territorial disputes, officials said. The comments by Koizumi may help ease the threat of disruption of trade between the region's two biggest economies, said Steven Leung, director of institutional sales at UOB-Kay Hian Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

If Japan has never made such an apology, I guess one is due. But we must not continue to persecute today's Japanese people for the behavior of their forefathers. Japan is now a fine country and a great ally in causes for freedom and human rights.

Related News Links:
abcnews.go.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
POLITICS: Chinese Citizens Protest Japanese

[edit on 4/22/2005 by djohnsto77]

rapier28

posted on Apr, 22 2005 @ 01:19 AM

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I just like to point out some common misconceptions on this issue.

1. Japanese leaders have apologised numerous (17?) times in the past, but the language used is often "regret" and many people would feel it is insincere.

2. The current issue has being coming for a long time, ever since Koizumi took office, I keep telling people this, the textbook is only half the issue, the main issue is Koizumi visiting the Yasakuni shrine where Hundreds/Thousands of convicted war criminals, including 14 Class A war criminals (such as Japanese war time PM) are enshrined in.

And of course, there are other tussles over Islands, Seas and Taiwan (a Chinese province that Japan colonised in 1895 by defeating the Qing navy and returned to Chiang Kai-Shek by the Americans in 1945).

djohnsto77

posted on Apr, 22 2005 @ 12:51 PM

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If the Japanese already apologized, this should be put in the past. Visiting a veterans' cemetary, even if contains the remains of criminals, shouldn't be a reason to blast them. I'm sure most of the people buried there where just loyal Japanese soldiers who thought they were doing the right thing.

djohnsto77

posted on Apr, 22 2005 @ 12:57 PM

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Koizumi did make the apologetic speech:

JAKARTA, Indonesia, April 22 - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan reiterated an apology today for his country's aggression in World War II ahead of an expected meeting with President Hu Jintao of China in an attempt to defuse a diplomatic row over how Japan interprets its wartime history.

Echoing remarks of previous Japanese prime ministers, Mr. Koizumi expressed "deep remorse" over the pain inflicted on Japan's neighbors in Asia during a speech to a gathering of Asian and African leaders here.

The repetition of the longstanding apology over Japan's war record was significant for its timing: Mr. Koizumi and Mr. Hu are expected to meet Saturday in an effort to calm a dispute that has set off bitter anti-Japanese protests in China.

NY Times

rapier28

posted on Apr, 22 2005 @ 11:24 PM

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Originally posted by djohnsto77
If the Japanese already apologized, this should be put in the past. Visiting a veterans' cemetary, even if contains the remains of criminals, shouldn't be a reason to blast them. I'm sure most of the people buried there where just loyal Japanese soldiers who thought they were doing the right thing.

The Yasakuni shrine is not a cemetery, it houses no bodies.

It is a Shinto shrine that worship the spirits of the dead, the main problem that Asian nations have with it is that it houses all spirits, including like i said, 14 class A war criminals.

Let me make this analogy,

Chancellor Shroeder visiting a shrine dedicated to Nazi Germany including Hitler, Goebbels and all the S.S.

It won't go down well in Europe, why do people expect the Yasakuni shrine to go down well in Asia.