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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Japan PM: No more WWII brothel apologies |
| 2007-03-05 |
| TOKYO (AP) — Japan will not apologize again for its World War II military brothels, even if the U.S. Congress passes a resolution demanding it, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told parliament Monday. Abe, elaborating on his denial last week that women from across Asia were forced into sexual slavery in the 1930s and 1940s, said none of the testimony in hearings last month by the U.S. House of Representatives offered any solid proof of abuse. "I must say we will not apologize even if there's a resolution," Abe told lawmakers in a lengthy debate, during which he also said he stood by Japan's landmark 1993 apology on the brothels. "The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion," Abe said. "There was no testimony based that had any proof," he told lawmakers Monday. Beyond the pale Historians say that up to 200,000 women — mostly from Korea and China — served in Japanese military brothels throughout Asia during the war and in the years leading up to it. Accounts of abuse by the military — including kidnapping of women and girls for use in the brothels — have been backed up by witnesses, victims and even former Japanese soldiers. Victims and their supporters have pushed unsuccessfully for official government compensation. Japan set up a private fund for compensation in 1995, but has refused to provide government money. The fund will be dissolved at the end of March. The prime minister, who is slumping in the polls since his election in September, was accused by the opposition of endangering Japan's international standing as a nation supporting human rights. "Unless Japan offers an apology ... I am afraid the international community will think Japan has not learned the lesson on human rights or from the war, which Japan started," Democratic Party lawmaker Toshio Ogawa said. comfort-women.org |
| Posted by:Icerigger |
| #9 Well put Excal. |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-03-05 18:45 |
| #8 I think macMan got it. The original dance of contrition has already been done, Korea wants another waltz but Japan don't like the monobrow. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-03-05 17:17 |
| #7 A democratically elected government of Japan does not need to apologize for the actions of Japan's fascist pass. It does, however, have to acknowledge Japan's fascist past. I want an apology from Japan for its ongoing denial of this past. This is a sin of the present; not of the ancestors. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-03-05 11:44 |
| #6 The Koreans see it as a horrible stain on their honor to have had so many of their young women taken and forced into being unpaid whores for the Japanese Army From the people whose politicians use the Americans as their own little whipping boy to heap blame upon while ignoring that their liberty and prosperity was made possible by said Americans. Honor indeed. Very selective. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-03-05 11:11 |
| #5 Black folks want an apology for Slavery, since there's no slaves alive today, and no slaveowners, this seems only designed to stir up trouble. Same idea exactly. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-03-05 10:52 |
| #4 Darth I was thinking the same thing at first. But the evidence is overwhelming and to have Shinzo Abe claim it never happened, well it's just stupid slander towards the victims. Japan's refusal to fund the program shows clear intent of a "pretend apology" The Nazis were humanitarians compared to the Japs during WWII. And how many Japanese where hung for war crimes? No wonder Abe thinks such a bullcrap lie can be thrown into these women's faces. My brother worked in a Sex Crimes Unit and I guess my view of this bastard may be biased. I'd still like to see him share a cell with Bubba in a deep south jail. When he came out half hosed to death the surviving women could hand him a t-shit. "I volunteered for this treatment that never happened". |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-03-05 10:48 |
| #3 I'm here in South Korea. Things between Japan and SK have been bad. This is going to make them much worse. The Koreans see it as a horrible stain on their honor to have had so many of their young women taken and forced into being unpaid whores for the Japanese Army. If Japan was as apologetic as it could be it would still be a bone of contention. Japanese defiance will bring relations to a new postwar low. |
| Posted by: mac 2007-03-05 10:11 |
| #2 I can see his side. They already apologized. The fact that other nations demand it over and over is a bit much. I am tired of people demanding over and over that everyone apologizes for everything. Life sucks, people and nations do shitty things. If they apologize, get over it and move on. De-funding the compensation I think is a bad move and claiming there is no proof is also going too far. That does little for the PM's position of resolve. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-03-05 09:34 |
| #1 Even with the argument that there is no evidence, this guy has really stepped in a pile. Any idiot politician knows you give public support for people who have been sexually abused. All it would have taken would have been for him to speak at some length about the wrong in forcing people into any kind of sexual behavior, in any time or any place. But no, Japan clings to an outdated sexual mentality, just as much of Asia does, and they are hobbling themselves with it. This story seems to have a durable shelf life in European news right now. |
| Posted by: Jules 2007-03-05 09:20 |