China repeatedly invokes historical narratives to brand Japan an “eternal sinner.”
Before echoing such propaganda, this essay urges readers to confront the ongoing acts of aggression and human rights repression unfolding today.

2016-02-03

The following is from a recent article in the Sankei Shimbun.

China repeatedly invokes the “historical issue” of Japan’s so-called wars of aggression to portray Japan as an “eternal sinner” in the international community.
This passage is quoted from The Inconvenient Truth of the Sino-Japanese War by Minoru Kitamura and Siyun Lin, and the book clearly reveals the overall structure and essence of the matter.

Chairman Mao once famously asked visiting Japanese leaders, including Kakuei Tanaka, Masayoshi Ohira, and Susumu Nikaido, whether their quarrel was finally over.
Decades later, a story recounted by the child of one of those leaders revealed China’s changed attitude.
When a Japanese aide expressed gratitude for enduring friendship, a Chinese official bluntly replied that they no longer drank well water but mineral water.

The implication was clear.
China had taken what it needed from Japan and now regarded itself as a great power.

Mao also once remarked that without Japan’s invasion, the Chinese people could not have united, calling the Japanese army a “great teacher.”
For the Chinese Communist Party, the legitimacy of its rule rests on the narrative of victory in the anti-Japanese war.

China therefore needs Japan to remain an aggressor in history.
That is their position.

What is troubling is that many people on the Japanese side echo this narrative and insist Japan fought a war of aggression.
Yet Japan expressed regret through diplomatic statements, which should have been sufficient.

Former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi argued that while Japan bore responsibility for defeat, it was not morally accountable to the United States, and that Japan fought because it was driven into war.

Historical truth requires careful study of documents and testimony, including oral histories.

Those who speak only of Japan’s past “aggression” should be asked this.
Are China’s current actions not acts of aggression.

The oppression of Tibet and Uyghurs, territorial expansion toward the Senkaku Islands, Okinawa, and the Spratlys, and the suppression of human rights and free expression, including kidnappings that seem unimaginable in the 21st century, are all forms of invasion against the human spirit.

Before repeating propaganda about past aggression, should we not instead confront the invasion happening right now.