> Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 16:26:46 +0000
> Subject: What's your opinion on the attachment
>
> Attachment is a paper published in Washington Post today, my friends. It's written by Japanese ambassador to the US in response to Chinese ambassador's paper publishedin Jan 10, 2014, also in Washington Post. I think we can all image what Chinese embassador said in the paper as we all know Chinese government's view, and possibly our views are the same or similar to the Chinese government's. Now we have a chance to see what Japanese said. I understnad there is bias for Japanese, just like the fact we also have a bias toward this dispute. However, we have "brain" to think. Expecting your view after you read this paper. Thanks!
>
> Peiyuan
China’s propaganda campaign against Japan
By
Kenichiro Sasae, Published: January 16
Kenichiro Sasae is Japan’s ambassador to the United States.
China has been conducting a global propaganda campaign
against Japan, the most recent example of which was the Jan. 10 Post op-ed by Cui Tiankai, China's ambassador to the United States.
But his op-ed was wrong, and China’s leaders clearly misread global attitudes.
It is not Japan that most of Asia and the international community worry about;
it is China. First of all, the Yasukuni Shrine, which was the focus of Beijing’s most recent round ofanti-Japan op-eds, is a place where the souls of those who sacrificed their
lives for the country since the Meiji Restoration of 1868 have been enshrined.
Japanese people visit the shrine to pray for the souls of the war dead — more
than 2.4 million — not to glorify war or honor or justify a small number of
Class A war criminals. Gallery
Last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the shrine and
Chinreisha, a
memorial for all war dead around the world, to make a pledge for everlasting
peace based on his deep remorse for the past. Like many other Japanese people,
he said he wished to visit the shrine in sincere remembrance of the suffering
and sacrifice of Japan’s soldiers and non-Japanese alike. He did not go to pay
homage to Class A war criminals nor to hurt the feelings of the Chinese or
Korean people. It is important to note that China began raising this issue
with political motives in 1985. At that time, more than 20 visits by prime
ministers to Yasukuni had gone unchallenged, even after 14 Class A war
criminals had been enshrined there in 1978.
The government of Japan has repeatedly expressed deep
remorse and heartfelt apologies regarding the war. So did the prime minister
after his recent visit to Yasukuni; he said that “Japan must never wage a war
again” based on “the severe remorse for the past.” He has inherited and will
honor the statements of previous prime ministers. Prime Minister Abe has
accepted the judgments of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East,
and he has never said that Japan did not commit aggression.
I cannot predict whether China’s anti-Japan propaganda
campaign will work inside China, but it certainly does not resonate
internationally. In most of Asia and the rest of the world, Japan has among the
highest favorability
rating of any nation in public polls. What has become a serious, shared concern for the peace and
security of the Asia-Pacific region is not our prime minister’s visit to the
Yasukuni Shrine but, rather, China’s unparalleled military buildup and its use
of military and mercantile coercion against neighboring states. The most recent
example of this is Beijing’s unilateral declaration of an air defense identification zone. China has escalated the intrusion of government vessels
into the territorial sea around the Senkaku Islands and in waters claimed by
the Philippines, Vietnam and other maritime states in the region. The Japanese people have pride and confidence in the
peaceful course we have taken over the past 70 years and are moving toward the
future. Unlike China, Japan has not once fired a gun in combat since World War
II. Japan has made major economic and technology contributions to help boost
economic development in Asia, including in China. Japan has consistently upheld
freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law since the war and has
contributed to the peace and prosperity of Asia, in solidarity with the United
States as allies.
Japan’s defense posture is quite modest. In contrast, as a
result of annual increases of more than 10 percent, China has quadrupled its
military expenditures, which are hardly transparent, in the past decade. During
the same period, Japan has decreased its expenditures by 6 percent. We have
increased our defense budget for the first time in 11 years, only by 0.8
percent in the current budget.
The path that postwar Japan is taking as a peaceful nation
will never change. Polls show that the American people have deep trust in
Japan, which is reciprocated, and that few Americans fear Japanese
militarization. Unfortunately, China does not allow open debate and flow of
information, and thus Chinese people cannot see the truth that people
throughout the world see, nor can they criticize distorted views propagated by
their government.
Nevertheless, we remain hopeful. China is an important
neighbor, and we are hoping to build a good relationship with it. Prime
Minister Abe is ready for talks with President Xi Jinping without any
preconditions.
We fervently hope that China will cease its dogmatic
anti-Japanese propaganda campaign and work with us toward a future-oriented
relationship. Ultimately, the international community will be swayed by China’s
deeds, not by anachronistic propaganda.