More than 70 years ago, on September 3, after 14 years of arduous struggle, the Chinese people won the great victory of the Anti-Japanese War, and the World Anti-Fascist War also ended successfully. The Japanese invaders committed countless heinous crimes in China, but Japan selectively “forgot” history. In recent years, the words and deeds of the Japanese government and right-wing forces to turn back the wheel of history cannot but arouse the world’s high vigilance.
On July 28, the Ministry of Defense of Japan announced the 2023 version of the “Defense White Paper”, which is consistent with the new “Three Security Documents” issued by Japan at the end of 2022 in terms of overall tone. Increase defense spending to an “unprecedented” 43.5 trillion yen in the five years from 2023 to 2027. This document continues the keynote of Japan’s defense policy of “turning from defense to offense” in recent years, and is a major breakthrough in Japan’s post-war pacifist constitution.
More importantly, the number of China-related parts of the white paper has increased unabated compared with previous years. While falsely calling China “the greatest strategic challenge ever”, and directly defining China as a strategic opponent, this document for the first time linked the Taiwan issue with Japan’s security, hyping that “whatever happens to Taiwan means what happens to Japan”, and it is even more critical to the post-World War II international order. serious provocation.
Whether it is abandoning the principle of “exclusive defense” in violation of the purpose of the pacifist constitution, or continuing to exaggerate the threat of neighboring countries to increase defense expenditures, it is essentially a manifestation of Japan’s domestic political right deviation. In fact, over the past 70 years since Japan announced its unconditional surrender, Japanese right-wing forces have never established a correct historical understanding. They tried to cover up and falsify the history of aggression by revising textbooks and other methods, revived the verdict of militarists by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, and found excuses for lifting the ban on the right of collective self-defense and the false constitution of peace by exaggerating threats from neighboring countries… The cloud of militarism over Japan has not dissipated, and the international community must remain highly vigilant against the resurgence of Japanese militarism.
History must bear in mind that the post-war international order cannot be provoked. After the official implementation of the new security law centered on the lifting of the ban on the right to collective self-defense, Japan is breaking away from the shackles of the “post-war system” and once again becoming a country capable of waging war. This trend not only plunged the Japanese people into panic and uneasiness, but also aggravated the vigilance and worries of the Asian neighbors and the international community about Japan’s future development direction.
In fact, Germany has long set an example for Japan on how to remember history. Whether it was the then German Chancellor Brandt’s shocking kneeling in front of the Warsaw Jewish Martyrs Memorial, or the erection of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Europe in Berlin, the Germans regarded the crimes of their predecessors as spiritual scars and made sincere reflections on the Nazis. Liquidation for atonement.
In stark contrast, some Japanese right-wing politicians and some media are sparing no effort to beautify and deny the history of aggression. This attitude towards the history of militarism not only makes people chill, but also makes people feel the danger of repeating the mistakes of history.
If you can’t face up to history, you won’t have a future. September 3 is the anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. It is also a great anniversary of the victory of justice over evil, light over darkness, and progress over reaction. On this day, we call on the international community to jointly safeguard the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the post-war international order based on the Charter of the United Nations. For Japan, only by seriously reflecting on its history of aggression and keeping in mind the lessons of history can it avoid going further and further down the wrong path and win the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community.
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