Ottawa Citizen, Canada
March 3, 2007 Saturday
Final Edition
Sins of the fathers
Japanese Prime Minister Shintaro Abe is damaging his country by
denying the historical fact that, in the 1930s and 1940s, the
Imperial Japanese Army forced Korean women into sexual slavery. Even
worse, Mr. Abe is repudiating an apology for the wartime abuses that
was issued by a Japanese government in 1993.
National honour is important in Japan, and because of this cultural
trait, some Japanese have had great difficulty confronting the sins
of their fathers. But denial and equivocation does Japan no good. For
one thing, there is the moral imperative to acknowledge the crimes.
The victims deserve no less.
Then there’s the political and strategic imperative. Mr. Abe’s
provocations hinder good relations with countries such as China and
South Korea. In the increasingly troubled waters of the North
Pacific, where the containment of North Korea is a matter of vital
importance to Japan, and cannot be achieved without support from
Beijing and Seoul, Tokyo’s blinkered version of history makes a
difficult process harder to manage.
This is not a uniquely Japanese problem. Some Turkish leaders
continue to dilute or even deny the Armenian massacre. Turkey’s
unwillingness to confront its past has complicated the country’s
relationship with the rest of Europe.
Any country that desires a place in the community of modern,
civilized nations has no business committing offences against
historical truth.