Defend the Dignity of History

By+CAO+PENGCHENG

JULY 7 is an important day for the Chinese nation. Seventyseven years ago， the belligerent forces of Japanese imperialism escalated their aggression in Northeast China to a full-scale invasion. Today， alarm bells ringing throughout the country remind us of the past and of our duty to safeguard peace.

However， rather than face justice， the aggressors continue to evade blame and distort history. “On July 7， 1937， Japanese soldiers were fired upon while on exercise at the Lugou Bridge （known as Marco Polo Bridge in the West） outside Beijing， bringing Japan and China to war” – this is how Japanese schoolbooks， published by Fusosha Publishing， describe the “July 7 Incident.” The Japanese War of Aggression against China is deliberately distorted and whitewashed： Japans occupation and puppet regime in Manchuria is presented as the “Promised Kingdom” of the“Five Peoples Covenant，” and Japanese atrocities against civilians as “accidental injury” when cracking down on antiJapanese resistance fighters. The description of the cruel Nanjing Massacre bears the following shameful footnote：“The Tokyo trials recognized that the Japanese occupation of Nanjing in 1937 killed many Chinese civilians， known as the Nanjing Incident. However， there are still questionable points in the supporting data.”

In Japan， right-wing scholars and writers openly appeal to militarism and deny the historical reality of Japanese aggression. From local councillors to the Prime Minister， Japanese politicians continue to mask the brutal realities of their countrys history and distort the nature of aggression. Gruesome lies continue to emerge which cast doubt upon Japans culpability for massacres and comfort woman behavior， and uphold the idea of a “just war” and a “civilized army.”

In truth， Japan is caught up in protecting its own self-image. “The more they refuse to learn from history， the more certain the war crimes are to be remembered.” Japans modern rightwingers seldom display restraint， on the contrary， they refuse to contend with more fresh， solid evidence， preferring to bury their heads， ostrich-like， rather than heed victim countries criticisms and protests. Even worse， they fan the flames of resentment and poison public opinion， step by step turning Japan away from the rest of the world.

For todays Japanese， most of whom were born after World War II， peace seems an unchangeable reality. Japans crimes in China remain largely unknown； few people care to understand and few political parties are willing to acknowledge responsibility. This is why， when Prime Minister Abe visited Germany， he dared to mention that Japan would not apologize to its neighbors as Germany had. In Germany this rhetoric would be the downfall of the ruling party. Only a few decades after the end of World War II， popular pressure was strong enough to force the German Prime Minister to resign. Western scholars have pointed out that all countries that participated in World War II are familiar with Japan rightwingers propensity to glorify the past. Japans constitutional provisions， however， hold that it will never fight in a war， something that many in the West perceive as the best guarantee that Japan will stay on a peaceful path.

But Abe has singlehandedly prejudiced the promise of peace recently.

Japanese people often ask how many times must their country apologize before it can earn forgiveness. In reply， we ask how many times must we uncover and disprove right-wing denials of Japans history of aggression. As Japanese scholar Takahashi Tetsuya says， the memories of Japans shame remain just as important today. Never forget that the war was a war of aggression. Japan must accept that the historical record is set. The only course left is to come clean and accept responsibility for the past. Otherwise it will be impossible to move forward.

China will never accept the indignity of letting historical truth be trampled on. Nor will the international community. China and South Korea have recently agreed to carry out joint research on the conscription of “comfort women” and other Japanese war crimes. On his recent visit to South Korea， President Xi Jinping proposed to jointly commemorate the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Fascism and victory of Chinas Anti-Japanese War and Koreas liberation from Japan， to which Korean President Park Geunhye instantly and positively responded. Naturally， countries with similar experiences are closing ranks， and such cooperation is likely to increase.

The road ahead remains deeply rooted in history as a mirror of current efforts. The Chinese people repelled the invaders and waived war reparations to maintain Asian unity； but we never gave up the right to maintain historical justice. As Japanese reactionaries continue to mask the history of aggression against China， defending national memory and historical heritage becomes more important than ever. This is our generations duty： to maintain our historical dignity and raise the national spirit to a higher level.