War Leaders Not Criminals: Japan
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Speaking at a parliamentary session on Friday, Shinzo Abe, the new prime minister of Japan, dismissed the idea that Japanese leaders during World War II were "war criminals."
AFP, the French News agency, quoted him as saying, "The people who are said to be so-called Class-A criminals were tried and convicted as war criminals at the Tokyo tribunal, but they were not war criminals under domestic laws. That also was the case for my relative."
The relative in question was Nobusuke Kishi, his grandfather, who supervised the industrialization of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in northeastern China.
After the war, Kishi was labeled a war criminal and jailed by U.S. forces, although he was not tried in the Tokyo tribunal. He became Japanese Prime Minister in 1957.
According to Abe's view, Japan gained independence by committing not to free anyone imprisoned for war crimes without the allies' permission, even though they should have been freed under international law as soon as a peace treaty was signed. The U.S., allied countries, and Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951.
Moreover, he noted that those people had not been tried under Japanese laws and as a prime minister, he must not decide whether they are war criminals or not.
Abe has been seen as more hawkish than his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, on foreign policy. He advocates strong measures over North Korea and supported Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine. He has been strongly criticized for his hard-line view on historical matters.
The announcement came on the eve of his fence-mending trip to South Korea and China -- victims of Japanese imperialism during WWII -- so it could possibly spoil his effort to improve relations with the two important neighbors.
It also contradicts Abe's own words. Just one day earlier, in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency, Abe said, "As a result of starting the war, Japan led many of its people to die or lose family members while causing damage to many people in Asia...
National leaders of that time, including my grandfather, were responsible for a significant degree."
Japan's relations with China and South Korea have been tense over the last few years due to different views on historical matters. China and South Korea accuse Japan of distorting history by dismissing its atrocities during WWII in its history textbooks. China and South Korea also expressed anger at Kozumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni, a Shrine in Tokyo that honors 2.4 million war dead, including 14 World War II Class-A war criminals.
Abe was scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Saturday to have talks with top Chinese officials. On Sunday, he will fly to Seoul to have talk with South Korean President Roh. In his first oversea trip to important neighbors, Abe hopes to talk about a wide range of issues, from historical matters to bilateral relations. However, the issue on the highest agenda would be how to react to North Korean announcement to test nuclear weapons. There has been speculation that North Korea might carry out the test this weekend to mark the 9th anniversary of Kim Jong-il's being named the head of the Workers' Party. -
i bet he'll visit that dunno what shrine next
then will become koizumi ver2 -
Shinzo Abe has long been known as a staunch conservative in the then Koizumi cabinet. He supported the shrine vists, and the proposal to revoke Japan's post-war constitution. Thus, it comes as no surprise that he makes comments as such. It'll be interesting, with Abe at the healm, to watch how Sino-Japanese-Korean relations play out. I'm pretty certain both the Chinese and the South Koreans would have something to say about this.
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hope he can talk and talk and more provoke.... then North Korea let the history repeat and dump Korea... little man and fat boy.
Think china and korea shall join hand and show color to Jap and do us proud.
..... hahaha... i am dreaming..... too hazy -
blardy japs -
WWWIII
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It doesn't matter who's right or wrong, it only matters who the judge is. -
Correct.
But if Abe can take North Korea in line, I'll be willing to close one eye for his lack of sensitivity. We do live in a world of realpolitik after all, sad as it might sound. -
Tats true, the priority right now is to keep the north koreas from going ahead with their nuclear test, thats currently wats on most politicians mind right now at tis moment. If North Korean does go ahead, it might trigger a nuclear arms race in the North East Asia..something the states and the EU and the rest of the world would not want to see..Originally posted by LazerLordz:Correct.
But if Abe can take North Korea in line, I'll be willing to close one eye for his lack of sensitivity. We do live in a world of realpolitik after all, sad as it might sound. -
With his comments, I doubt North Koreans are going to give a hoot about about this. The test will go on as planned. China might just agree with North Korea, in order to spite Japan for making such a comment.Originally posted by 4getmenot:Tats true, the priority right now is to keep the north koreas from going ahead with their nuclear test, thats currently wats on most politicians mind right now at tis moment. If North Korean does go ahead, it might trigger a nuclear arms race in the North East Asia..something the states and the EU and the rest of the world would not want to see.. -
To side with North Korea and indirectly giving tacit approval for such a test, is worse.
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With North Korea's stauch belief in brinkmanship, I cannot see what can make them listen to their neighboring countries.Originally posted by 4getmenot:Tats true, the priority right now is to keep the north koreas from going ahead with their nuclear test, thats currently wats on most politicians mind right now at tis moment. If North Korean does go ahead, it might trigger a nuclear arms race in the North East Asia..something the states and the EU and the rest of the world would not want to see..
Anyway, in event of North Korea's triggering an actual war, I would prefer seeing Japan, South Korea and China stand on the same side, hence the priority cannot merely be about convincing Kim Jong Il to drop his weapons, but must be about mending Sino-Jap-South Korean relations as well. It would be foolish to say that this relationship pales in importance as compared to the North Korea rising hostility. Both come hand in hand. -
North Korea may have hoped to intimidate Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe by pledging a nuclear test, but wound up playing into his hands, analysts said.Originally posted by 4getmenot:Tats true, the priority right now is to keep the north koreas from going ahead with their nuclear test, thats currently wats on most politicians mind right now at tis moment. If North Korean does go ahead, it might trigger a nuclear arms race in the North East Asia..something the states and the EU and the rest of the world would not want to see..
Abe, who took office last week, faced his first crisis as he prepared to head to China and South Korea on a breakthrough tour to repair tense relations.
North Korea may have wanted to drive a fresh wedge between Japan and neighboring countries, which have taken a softer approach to Pyongyang, but its saber-rattling will also vindicate Abe at home, analysts said.
Abe, 52, rose to prominence through his tough talk on North Korea. He has an unabashedly conservative agenda that includes rewriting the US-imposed 1947 pacifist Constitution.
"In many ways this will make life easier for Abe. He has always had a strong anti-North Korean position. Now he can say, `I told you so,'" said Phil Deans, a professor of international affairs at Temple University in Tokyo.
"He will be able to use this to say, look, we can't always rely on the United States. The time has come for Japan to act -- standing with its allies, but on its own feet," Deans said.
He said a North Korean nuclear test will also boost a hardline minority who believe Japan -- the only nation to suffer nuclear attack -- should acquire atomic weapons on its own.
Abe has not called for nuclear weapons. But he wants Japan to have a military in name -- not the "Self-Defense Forces" as it is now known -- which would take a larger role overseas.
His views are unpopular in Asian countries that have been invaded by Japan. But China and South Korea said on Wednesday they will host Abe next week in a bid to repair ties strained over history issues under his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi.
North Korea has now managed to steal some of the focus of Abe's diplomacy.
"It may be that his record and hostility toward North Korea has aided those in the North who wanted to take a more provocative stance, saying that now that this man is in charge there's no point to compromise," Deans said.
North Korea, in a statement on Tuesday announcing its plans, made no direct reference to Japan. Pyongyang said it would test nuclear weapons because of hostility and financial sanctions by the US.
But even if North Korea's main concern was not Japan, it provides a first test for Abe, analysts said.
Masao Okonogi, a professor of North Korean studies at Tokyo's Keio University, said the neighboring countries would shun Japanese attempts to impose further sanctions on the North.
"This weekend's summits with Beijing and Seoul will inevitably show the differences in stance on the North between Tokyo and the two Asian neighbors," Okonogi said.
Abe, speaking in parliament last Wednesday, pledged to use his upcoming visit to form a united front on North Korea.
It was a change in tone from July, when Abe -- then the top aide to Koizumi -- rattled neighboring countries by suggesting a theoretical pre-emptive attack on the communist state.
Japanese are particularly concerned as Pyongyang fired a missile over the country's main island in 1998. The test led Japan to team up with the US on missile defense and to ease its longstanding ban on weapons exports.
Robert Dujarric, a North Korea expert based in Tokyo, said the true test of Abe's intentions will be whether he seeks to step up military spending, which has declined in recent years as Japan battles a ballooning public debt.
"This will probably push Abe to be a little more aggressive verbally. But what to watch is what it does to Japan's defense," Dujarric said.
"This is good for those who are perceived as being hawkish in Japan, because the soft line of `let's negotiate with North Korea' looks weaker and weaker," he said. -
In the event that an actual war happens, I won't be surprised if they are opposing each other. Unless, something happens that makes them reverse their decision...Originally posted by PointBlue:With North Korea's stauch belief in brinkmanship, I cannot see what can make them listen to their neighboring countries.
Anyway, in event of North Korea's triggering an actual war, I would prefer seeing Japan, South Korea and China stand on the same side, hence the priority cannot merely be about convincing Kim Jong Il to drop his weapons, but must be about mending Sino-Jap-South Korean relations as well. It would be foolish to say that this relationship pales in importance as compared to the North Korea rising hostility. Both come hand in hand.