Abe's plan to go to Pearl Harbor 'hypocritical'

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's announcement to visit Pearl Harbor is a "hypocritical gesture" to cater to the United States rather than a sincere reflection on the country's World War II-era war crimes, analysts said.

Yoshihide Suga, chief cabinet secretary of Japan, said on Tuesday that Abe will not apologize for the surprise attack that killed more than 2,000 US citizens and triggered the US' entry into World War II.

"This visit is for the sake of consoling the souls of those who died in the war, not for the sake of an apology," Suga told a news conference.

Abe said on Monday that he will visit Pearl Harbor on Dec 27 with US President Barack Obama, 75 years after Japan's attack on Hawaii in 1941. He will be the first Japanese leader to visit the site since the end of World War II.

Abe's refusal to apologize has triggered online protests among Chinese netizens. A microblogger named Chang Ray said Abe should visit Nanjing, where more than 300,000 people were killed by Japanese troops from December 1937 to January 1938. The netizen got more than 300 "likes" on his blog for this comment.

A series of activities will be held in Nanjing to commemorate the anniversary of the massacre, which falls on Dec 13.

Abe's lack of an apology during his Pearl Harbor trip could disappoint some US war veterans, Reuters reported.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said at a news conference on Monday that it was natural for World War II veterans to be "embittered" by Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor, but they should move past it for the sake of the United States.

Zhang Jingquan, a professor of Japanese studies at Jilin University, said that Abe aims to strengthen the Japan-US relationship by visiting Pearl Harbor to emphasize Japan's "common value" with the US.

"There is no 'common value' at all between Japan and the US on many issues, such as the comfort women (sex slaves during World War II) issue," he said.

Abe's refusal to apologize showed that his visit is just "a hypocritical gesture" to cater to the US, Zhang said.

Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of international relations at China Foreign Affairs University, said Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor is merely a pragmatic act to show Japan's loyalty to the United States.

Jonathan Pollack, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor is an important act of closure between the US and Japan.

"I am much less certain that equivalent conditions exist between Tokyo and Beijing for Abe to visit Nanjing," he said.

"The question is whether there is sufficient will and statesmanship between Xi and Abe to pursue such a possibility. Neither side will know if they do not try," he added.

Jake Adelstein, an investigative reporter in Japan since 1993, wrote on the Daily Beast on Monday that Abe's announcement killed off all debate on a strongly opposed and controversial casino bill being pushed through Japan's parliament at the moment.

Adelstein described the visit for Abe to show that Japan values its alliance with the US before the possibly Japan-hostile Trump administration takes over. It shows he is, at least on the surface, sorry for Japan's aggression in World War II. It allows him to take his place in history as the first sitting Japanese prime minister to do so.

"But it also serves to distract public debate about the casino laws being rushed into place. More than half of Japanese surveyed oppose the introduction of casinos, believing it is not in the public interest," he said.

The Japan Times reported on Tuesday that Japanese war veterans and atomic bomb survivors have mixed reactions to Abe's visit to Pearl Harbor.

Shigemitsu Tanaka, a 76-year-old member of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, also described Abe's visit as part of his efforts to show close Japan-US ties to US President-elect Trump.

He also said Abe should "apologize" over Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, according to the Japan Times newspaper.

Kuniyoshi Takimoto, who took part in the Pearl Harbor assault operation as part of an aircraft carrier's maintenance crew, criticized Abe and said he is trying to "score points" to gain popularity.

"Japan is like a country that is under the rule of the United States, and the prime minister is just hoping to keep the bond strong," said 95-year-old Takimoto.

Takimoto said there is a contradiction between Abe's words and actions. "He is turning this country into one that can wage war again, and I don't know why he can say such things as 'We will never repeat the horrors of war,'" he said, apparently referring to Japan's new security legislation that has loosened post-World War II constraints placed on its troops by the pacifist constitution, Japan Times reported.

Contact the writers at anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 12/08/2016 page1)