| An Apology Hard to Get | |
Dateline: 12/28/98
During Chinese President
Jiang's visit
to Japan recently, he demanded for a written apology from Japan about Japan's invasion of China
in the World War II, but he failed to obtain a full apology. Japan only expressed "deep remorse"
in the delayed
joint declaration
on their relations, which was not signed by either Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi or President Jiang Zemin. So the past is still a key issue
they have to face in the future.
It is understandable why Chinese need such
an apology
if you know the following numbers.
News related to China-Japan relation:
On the other hand, it is not understandable why it is so hard to obtain a written apology
from Japan for Japanese war crimes. This may be related to Japanese culture.
Iris Chang says it all in
her recent book,
"Japanese culture will not move forward until it too admits not only to the
world but to itself how improper were its actions of just half a century ago."
Yet unfortunately not many Japanese realized this.
Japanese are well-known for
their discipline
and unity
as admired by Chinese President Jiang during his visit to Japan. But if the base of the
discipline and unity is on the unwillingness to admit the past and if Japanese can't respect
more of others but themselves, Japan will never be able to get out of the shadow of the War.
List of books related to Japanese War Crimes in World War II:
For more information, check out the following links:
By Yuki Tanaka, Toshiyuki Tanaka, Yukiko Tanaka
By Sheldon H. Harris
By Robert K. Wilcox
By Gavan Daws
By James Yin, Shi Young, Ron Dorfman (Editor)
By Iris Chang
By Hal Gold