Spokeswoman urges Japan to squarely face history

BEIJING - The Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman said Wednesday that only if Japan squarely faces and reflects on its history, will it be able to develop sound relations with its neighbor countries.

Hua Chunying made the remark when responding to a question about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent historical comments.

At a congress hearing on Tuesday, Abe referred to the judgement of Japan's war crimes during World War II by the Far East International Martial Court as a verdict made by winner countries. Japanese media quoted Abe as saying history should be assessed by historians and that governments taking part in and expressing opinions on historical issues may lead to diplomatic problems.

Since assuming office, Abe has looked to release an official statement on Japan's aggressive past in order to replace the Murayama Danwa, a broad apology for wartime atrocities issued by former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama.

Hua stressed that the aggressive wars waged via Japanese militarism in the first half of last century had brought great disasters to the world, especially the people of victimized countries in Asia.

"The judgement by the Far East International Martial Court is the justice that the international community brought to Japanese militarism," according to the spokeswoman.

She said the result of the judgement forms a fundamental basis of post-war international order.

"There are always certain forces within Japan who are not ready to accept the defeat in World War II, and who attempt to challenge the post-war international order," she noted.

"The verdict of history cannot be reversed, while justice cannot be challenged," she said, adding that history has repeatedly proved that a country will enjoy a bright perspective only if it shows respect to the past.