Selective apology shows hypocrisy
Print Edition
The selective apology by Mitsubishi Materials for wartime crimes indicates that Japan has never truly reflected on its atrocities, only showing its insincerity and hypocrisy.
A senior executive of Mitsubishi Materials on Sunday apologized for wartime enslavement of some 900 US POWs at mines run by Mitsubishi Mining Co, the firm’s predecessor, at a special ceremony in Los Angeles.
Mitsubishi may have wished to change its image by this apology, but it backfired. It is worth mentioning that Mitsubishi Mining Co supplied materials for building Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ notorious fighter aircraft the A6M Zero during WWII. The Mitsubishi group played a vital role in Japan’s modernization and aggression.
But Mitsubishi’s apology was extended only to wartime enslaved US POWs. Actually apart from the Americans, Japan forced tens of thousand of Chinese and Koreans to fill the country’s labor shortage during the war.
The United States is a major ally of Japan that provides security guarantees for the country, so Japan has followed the US lead after the war and valued the American attitude. However, when facing Asian countries, Japan turns to an arrogant attitude.
You may look down upon your poorer neighbors, but the selective apology and double standard on wartime atrocities only shows the insincerity of your apology.
As a matter of fact, Mitsubishi’s selective apology was not surprising at all. It is deeply rooted in Japan’s traditional practice. The lesson of history is that Japan always admires and even submits itself to the strongest, but bullies the weak.
Even today, this practice still prevails and reminds China and other Asian countries of potential dangers brought by Japan. How can an individual who bullies the weak and fears the strong have friends indeed?
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