By Tao Wenzhao
On July 30 the US House of Representatives deliberated a bill
that would demand the Japanese government formally admit that the
country's army forced many women into sex slavery during World War
II, apologize to the victims and accept its historical
responsibility.
After just 35 minutes, those present during the House plenary
session unanimously approved the resolution. Democratic
Representative Mike Honda, who sponsored the non-binding act, said
afterward: "The passage of the comfort women resolution is not the
end, but the beginning. It is sending a strong signal to Japan's
political community."
?
This is the eighth such motion tabled by the House of
Representatives since 1996, but the first to pass the lower chamber
of Congress. None of the previous seven reached the voting
stage.
Last September, the House Committee on International Relations
(now the House Committee on Foreign Affairs) passed a bill
demanding the Japanese government formally admit the Japanese
imperial army forced tens of thousands of women to serve as sex
slaves, but it was not brought to the House plenary session for a
vote.
When the current Congress opened in January this year,
Representative Honda, a Democrat from California and grandson of
Japanese immigrants, sponsored a bill over the "comfort women"
issue again.
The House Committee on Foreign Affairs held a hearing about the
wartime atrocity, while the Japanese government pulled out all the
stops to intercept the bill. During Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe's US visit this past April, he requested a meeting with 11
federal legislators, including Congress Chairperson Nancy
Pelosi.
Abe apologized to his American hosts over the "comfort women"
issue but did not retract an earlier comment that there was
insufficient evidence to prove the wartime Japanese government was
involved in the crime.
In addition to complaints that the American media had failed to
faithfully relay what he had said, he also made a tongue-in-cheek
apology to former "comfort women" for their "profound sufferings"
during the war.
On June 14, a full-page advertisement signed by 63 Japanese
nationals was published in the Washington Post. It claimed
that no comfort woman was recruited by force and they were treated
well.
The ad also warned that the comfort women bill would hurt
bilateral relations. The ad, signed by Japanese journalists,
scholars and 44 Japanese parliamentarians, angered the Bush
administration.
The Japanese ambassador to the US also joined efforts to stop
the House from passing the Mike Honda act. Just before the House
Foreign Affairs Committee deliberated the bill, Ambassador Kato
Ryozo warned in a June 22 letter to five House leaders that passing
the bill would almost certainly cause long-term damage and impact
on the deep friendship, firm trust and extensive cooperation
between Japan and the US.
He indicated that Tokyo might reconsider its support for the US
in Iraq. Japan's cash donation to post-war Iraq is second only to
the US and has recently approved more money put aside for Iraq in
the next two years.
Still, the House Committee on International Relations passed the
resolution by an overwhelming majority, demanding the Japanese
government formally apologize to all wartime "comfort women".
The House had planned to vote on the Kato resolution on July 26,
but decided to postpone it until July 30 to avoid impacting Japan's
Upper House election on July 29 or embarrass Abe too much.
The non-binding resolution stated "the comfort women system was
unprecedented in terms of cruelty and scale and one of the most
extensive crimes in the 20th century".
It went on to say the comfort women system was a work of the
Japanese government and demanded the Abe administration acknowledge
its historical responsibility, issue a formal apology by the prime
minister and heed calls by the international community that Japan's
history textbooks not gloss over the issue and Japanese civil
servants must observe then Chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi
Takemura's comment in 1993 about the "comfort women" issue.
The Honda resolution has won widespread applause from the world
community except Japan. Though having no binding power, the bill
may still send extensive impact around the world.
Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Tom Lantos
made a comparison between the contrasting ways Germany and Japan
treated their war responsibility in a recent speech. He concluded
that Germany had made the right decision, whereas Japan had been
parading "historic amnesia".
In the past few years, the people of China, the Korean Peninsula
and other Asian nations have been fighting against this "historic
amnesia". Now that the House has passed the milestone resolution on
the "comfort women" issue, apparently even Japan's closest ally
could no longer tolerate Japan's obsession with this "anomaly".
This is not the first time the US has acted on the issue. During
his US visit in June last year, then Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi was allegedly intent on speaking to the whole
Congress, but Chairman of then House Committee on International
Relations Committee Henry Hyde wrote President George W Bush an
open letter, in which he said Koizumi must first publicly promise
he would not visit the Yasukuni Shrine ever again before speaking
to the Congress.
The Yasukuni Shrine honors Japanese Class-A war criminals that
fought American forces during WWII, while the Capitol is the place
where President Franklin D Roosevelt delivered his famous speech to
declare war on Japan. Consequently Koizumi's speech to Congress was
a no go.
The House resolution could push forward the internationalization
of the "comfort women" issue. As a matter of fact, the enslavement
of "comfort women" is a crime Japan committed during World War II,
which has therefore been a global issue from the very
beginning.
The Canadian Parliament is currently discussing this issue,
while victims in Australia and the Netherlands are fighting the
Japanese government for compensation in court. The House resolution
has definitely left its mark in all countries concerned.
Nations of the world are still pursuing Nazi war criminals who
have evaded justice so far. No matter where they hide and whatever
they are doing, they will be brought to justice once they are
found. It is a matter of ultimate right or wrong that proves
justice must be served.
World War II ended more than 60 years ago, but the Nazi war
criminal issue is yet to be resolved for good. And so it is with
the "comfort women" issue. Because most of the victims have since
passed on without seeing justice done and those still alive don't
have many years left, the resolution of this issue must not wait
any longer.
What impact will this House resolution have on US-Japan
relations? The Japanese side appears desperately trying to magnify
it. This writer believes it would only cause a few "scratches or
bruises" at best. The two countries are close allies with
wide-ranging common interests in security, economy and many other
areas between them.
The House resolution cannot damage the root of their
relationship as allies, but Japan politicians should better think
about country's war responsibility very seriously, now that even
their closest ally has spoken out in disgust.
The author is a researcher with Institute of American
Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
(China Daily August 7, 2007)
