BEIJING -- Any mention of Japan's aggressive history and shift in security policy by the country's government will be closely watched in 2015, as its neighboring victims are preparing to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.
In an interview with Chinese media on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan's new security bills would not lead to military conflict between Japan and China, and the nation would not repeat its war history.
Japan's cabinet approved a package of security bills to significantly expand the scope of overseas operations by the country's self-defense forces in May, breaching Japan's post-war security policy. The cabinet is seeking to pass the new policies before July, despite opposition at home and worries abroad.
When asked to comment on the new policies, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed hope that Japan would follow the path of peaceful development and play a constructive role in Asia.
In Tokyo, about 25,000 protesters surrounded Japan's Diet building on Sunday to express their strong opposition against the new security bills proposed by the Abe administration.
OLD RHETORIC
When it comes to historical issues, the problem with Prime Minister Abe is that he has been repeating carefully-crafted words without a sincere or apologetic attitude regarding the nation's past atrocities.
In speeches he gave to the U.S. Congress and the Asian-African Summit in Indonesia, the prime minister expressed "deep remorse" over WWII but stopped short of issuing an apology.
More regrettable, when faced with a request for comment on the Potsdam Proclamation, which accelerated the end of WWII and established Japan's actions over 70 years ago as a war of aggression, the prime minister declined to comment and claimed that he did not notice this part in the proclamation.
In his Monday interview, the prime minister once again dodged an outright apology, which was reflected in the landmark Murayama statement by then Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on the50th anniversary of the end of WWII on Aug. 15, 1995.
PROVOCATIVE ACTIONS
Like his unchanged attitude on the nation's aggressive past, provocative acts by Abe's administration continue to occur.
China rebuked Japan in May after Abe's wife visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, known for celebrating war criminals. According to Japanese media reports, Akie Abe visited the shrine, which honors Japan's dead veterans, including 14 Class-A criminals of World War II.
In April, a group of Japanese lawmakers from various parties visited the shrine a day after Abe dedicated a "masakaki" tree to honor it.
Ironically, hours after Abe said he felt "deep remorse" about past wars and pledged to adhere to peace at the Asian-African Summit in Indonesia in April, three of his cabinet members visited the shrine.
All these actions add to statements by high-profile politicians seeking to whitewash Japan's wartime atrocities during WWII and revisions of textbooks trying to hide Japan's abhorrent role from the younger generations.
CONCRETE ACTIONS ARE KEY
Only with sincere apologies to the victims of its wartime atrocities and true remorse over its horrendous role during WWII, can Japan win trust from its war victim neighbors and eventually be accepted as a honest nation.
Such expressions must be accompanied by tangible actions in order to earn the trust of its neighbors, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a routine briefing on Tuesday.
With China's own WWII commemorations in the near future, the world is watching closely and wondering whether Abe will make any attempt to reconcile with its neighbors.
When asked whether Beijing would invite Japanese leaders to its commemorative events in March, Wang Yi, Chinese foreign minister and a former Chinese envoy to Japan, said China welcomed "anyone who was sincere about coming."
Positive moves from Japan on such occasions are important not least because most Japanese leaders have not yet reflected or apologized for wartime aggression, especially not to the extent that Germany has for the Holocaust. Enditem
