Asians Welcome and Criticize Japanese Apology for WWII

Asian nations welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama’s apology Tuesday for World War II actions, but some governments, veterans and victims of Japan’s aggression demanded more to ease their painful memories.

Murayama’s apology, issued on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, followed a parliamentary resolution in July that expressed only “deep reflection.”

That gesture had disappointed Asian countries, some of which suffered years of painful Japanese colonial rule or brutal aggression by the Japanese military.

“I think this must be hailed by all sides from all over the world,” Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos said of Murayama’s apology.

China said that while the apology was positive, some people and politicians in Japan still cling to denials of aggression.

“We believe that the Japanese government’s gesture is positive . . . in that they have apologized to people of various countries in Asia,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“But at the same time we cannot fail to point out that in Japanese society, and in political circles, there are still some people who are not able to take a correct attitude toward problems relating to that part of history,” it said.

In South Korea, the Foreign Ministry said, “We want the Japanese government . . . to make serious efforts to thoroughly reveal the truth of history and have a proper understanding of history.”

President Kim Young Sam said Koreans can put the bitter past behind them only when Japan properly recognizes and acknowledges its aggression.

For many victims, compensation remains a key issue.

Filipinas who said Japanese soldiers used them as sex slaves called the apology an empty gesture.

“I’m angry. If he wants to ask for forgiveness but refuses to compensate us, then that’s nothing to us,” said Maria Rosa Luna Henson, spokeswoman for a group of “comfort women” who held a protest outside the Japanese Embassy in Manila.

World War II veterans attending ceremonies in Thailand at the site of the infamous Thailand-Burma “Death Railway” also dismissed the apology as empty unless Japan compensates victims of its aggression.