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Taiwan still waiting for an apology from
Japan
By Dan Bloom
Wednesday, Aug 18, 2010, Page 8
Japan recently apologized to South Korea for its colonial
rule from 1910 to 1945, seeking, an Associated Press report said, ¡§to strengthen
ties between the two countries ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Japanese
annexation of the Korean Peninsula.¡¨
During Japan¡¦s occupation of Korea, many Koreans were forced to fight as
frontline soldiers for Japan¡¦s Imperial Army, work in slave-labor conditions or
serve as prostitutes in brothels operated by the Japanese military. Sound
familiar?
Substitute ¡§Taiwan¡¨ for ¡§Korea¡¨ in the news reports, and the picture becomes
clear. Japan also owes an apology to Taiwan for drafting young Taiwanese men to
fight as frontline soldiers for Japanese military campaigns and for forcing
thousands of Taiwanese women, many of them Aboriginal girls, to serve as
¡§comfort women¡¨ in Japanese military brothels. Just as many older Koreans still
remember atrocities committed by Japan, many older Taiwanese also remember.
Although the issues do not remain as sensitive here in Taiwan all these decades
later, the mental and psychological toll of the Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan
cannot merely be airbrushed away by Japanese spin doctors.
¡§For the enormous damage and suffering caused by this colonization, I would like
to express, once again, our deep remorse and sincerely apologize,¡¨ Japanese
Prime Minister Naoto Kan told the Korean people earlier this month.
His statement was intended specifically for the ears of South Korean people, in
contrast to earlier apologies by Japan for wartime actions made broadly to the
Japan¡¦s Asian neighbors, including Taiwan.
Kan also said Japan plans to return some ¡§stolen¡¨ Korean cultural artifacts,
including historical documents that it ¡§acquired¡¨ while ruling the Korean
Peninsula.
History is a cruel reminder of what some nations do to other nations, and while
many South Koreans were glad to hear of Kan¡¦s remarks, many older people in
Korea told reporters covering the story that Tokyo¡¦s most recent apology was
insufficient, saying it should be backed up by specific measures, such as
reparations for victims, prosecution of wrongdoers and a record of the Japanese
military¡¦s history of sexual slavery in Japanese textbooks.
After Kan¡¦s remarks were publicized, a small group of activists protested in
front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, urging Japan to offer a more sincere
apology and return all Korean cultural artifacts in its possession.
One activist said: ¡§We no longer welcome apologies of words without action.¡¨
Kan¡¦s apology comes ahead of the 100-year anniversary of Tokyo¡¦s annexation of
the Korean Peninsula on Aug. 29. The 100-year anniversary of Tokyo¡¦s forced
annexation of Taiwan occurred in 1995.
Will Japan also agree to return some of Taiwan¡¦s cultural artifacts that were
also transported to Japanese museums during the colonial days and also apologize
in a humble and heartfelt manner for forcing young Taiwanese women into sexual
servitude for Japanese soldiers during the war years, some as young as 16 and
17?
Certainly, war is terrible and ugly, and unspeakable acts often occur, but where
are the apologies from Japan. Germany, after World War II, apologized to the
world, and it has been in apology mode ever since. Has Japan ever really
apologized for the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, for the atrocities committed
all over Asia during what it calls the Pacific War, for the unspeakable horrors
that the Taiwanese, Dutch and Korean comfort women had to live through?
Will Taiwan ever get a similar apology from Japan? Only history knows, and for
now, history¡¦s not talking.
Dan Bloom is a US writer based in Taiwan.
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