Rewriting History

This Letter was published on 25 April 2005, Arab News, Letter to the Editor Section.

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The Chinese people are right to protest Japan’s effort to rewrite history so that Japan’s future generations will not know the atrocities their forefathers committed during World War II. All over Asia, invading Japanese forces murdered countless thousands of civilians and raped women and even children. Up to now, the Japanese government has not compensated the women forced into sexual relationships with Japanese soldiers — they were known as “comfort women” — in Korea, China and the Philippines. They have not apologized for this grave violence against human dignity either. The Japanese Foreign Minister deserved the diplomatic slap that the Chinese government gave him when he visited China.
I hope all those in Asia who were victims of Japanese atrocieites during the war years will follow the example of China and condemn the arrogance of the Japanese government.