Japanese leader Abe stops short of apology for WWII
TOKYO — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe endorsed past government apologies for his nation's wartime aggression and colonial rule in a speech Friday marking the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, but he stopped short of repeating those apologies himself.
“I bow my head deeply before the souls of all those who perished both at home and abroad. I express my feelings of profound grief and my eternally, sincere condolences,” Abe said in a carefully worded, 25-minute speech broadcast live on national television.
Abe said Japan had taken “the wrong course” and expressed “utmost grief” for the “immeasurable damage and suffering” it had inflicted. The country surrendered to the United States and Allied Powers on Aug. 15, 1945.
However, the speech did not include a direct apology from Abe and may do little to resolve contentious relations with some of Japan’s most important neighbors, especially South Korea and China.
Leaders in those two countries have refused to meet with Abe one-on-one since he took office for a second term in December 2012, largely because of resentment over the invasion and atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during the war.
“Abe was letting it be known that he won't backtrack on past apologies but that he also won't necessarily issue those apologies again himself. It’s not what the Koreans wanted to hear, but it’s the most they’ll get from him,” said Sean King, an East Asia specialist with the Park Strategies consulting firm in New York.
Koichi Nakano, a professor of politics at Sophia University in Tokyo, said “historical revisionism” runs throughout Abe’s statement and could raise concerns among U.S. officials about the direction of the Abe administration. Washington wants Japan and South Korea to work together in the face of a rising militaristic China and nuclear-armed North Korea.
“The statement might please some right-wingers in Japan, but will upset many others,” Nakano said.
Kunihiko Miyake, a former diplomat and member of a private panel that advised Abe on the statement, disagreed. “It’s a very balanced and forward-looking statement, and I think it’s the first step for Japanese to develop a national consensus on history issues in general."
The White House said it approved of the remarks. "We welcome Prime Minister Abe’s expression of deep remorse for the suffering caused by Japan during the World War II era, as well as his commitment to uphold past Japanese government statements on history," National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
In 1995, then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama issued a landmark apology on the 50th anniversary of the war’s end. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi endorsed that statement 10 years later on the 60th anniversary, increasing the pressure on Abe to do the same this year.
While Abe endorsed the previous apologies in his speech Friday, he included a detailed discussion of conditions that existed before and during Japan’s wartime and colonial period including Western colonialism, Japan’s victory over Russia that Abe said inspired anti-colonial movements in the region, and how the Great Depression affected Japan’s economy.
He noted that more than 80% of the country’s population was born after the war, and indicated a frustration with what many conservatives argue are excessive calls for Japan to apologize for past mistakes.
“We must not let our children, grandchildren and even further generations to come, who have nothing to do with that war, be predestined to apologize,” he said.