Theme Statement
The Denial and Its Cost
- Reflections on Nanking Massacre 70 years ago and beyond
2007 marks the 70th
anniversary of the Rape of Nanking. The Nanking Massacre was but one
of the massive atrocious genocide the Imperial Japan committed during
their aggression to China in WWII. From 1931 to 1945, the imperial Japanese military committed innumerable atrocities throughout Asia. But, up to this date, Japan continues to evade the responsibility of its heinous war crimes. The tension and animosity between
Asian countries and Japan stem from this unresolved past; and that
undermines the stability and peace in the Asian region, and beyond.
70 years have elapsed, one wonders how Japan has been able to escape the responsibility for its horrific war crimes committed against its Asian neighbors for so long. How can Japan regain the trust and respect of its brutally victimized neighbors during World War II? What can you do to bring forth the awareness of the Japanese atrocities committed in Asia during the Pacific War? How
has the world learned from man’s inhumanity against man and how
has it been affected by the aggressor’s post-war denial? And what can you do to help bring this tragic chapter of history to a proper closure?
“Japan
must apologize for its aggression
and offer compensation. This is
the basic condition, and most Japanese with a good conscience have been for
it. But a coalition of
conservative parties, bureaucrats and business
leaders
opposes.”
- Kenzaburo Oe
Japanese novelist,
Nobel Prize Laureate for
Literature, 1994
(From
“Denying History Disables Japan “,
The New York Times Magazine,
July 2, 1995)
Copyright
© global-alliance.net 2007