Japan ex-PM tells Abe to stand by 1995 war apology
Print Edition
FORMER Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said yesterday the landmark 1995 war apology carrying his name is an international pledge that Japan must not change, amid speculation that conservative leaders want to revise it.
Murayama said Japan should also keep another apology over forced prostitution before and during World War II, and urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to stand by both statements.
“Nobody can deny the Murayama statement,” he said during a rare public speech in Tokyo since his retirement in 2000.
“It has become an international pledge and Japan’s national policy. It’s impossible to deny it, and for that reason I trust Prime Minister Abe will observe it.”
The apology was issued under Murayama and is seen as Japan’s main expression of remorse for its wartime and colonial past. It has since been endorsed by all 10 prime ministers, including Abe’s earlier administration in 2007.
Since taking office in 2012, Abe has angered China and South Korea, which were occupied by Japan before and during World War II, by questioning the meaning of the word “aggression” in the 1995 apology and saying there is no international consensus on its definition.
Abe suggested his Cabinet does not necessarily support the entire apology, though he later promised to stand by it. His visit to Tokyo’s shrine honoring the war dead including convicted Class-A war criminals in December has escalated tension with China and South Korea.
Murayama was a Democratic Socialist who led the three-party coalition government that included Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party from 1994-96. He issued the statement to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Murayama also criticized growing attempts by nationalist lawmakers to discredit the apology for forced prostitution by citing the lack of official wartime documents specifically stating that the government at the time forced Asian women to provide sex for Japanese soldiers.
Since taking office for the second time, Abe has said he prefers to leave history up to historians and avoid comment.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
