China tells Japan not to defame UNESCO heritage application regarding comfort women

BEIJING -- Japan should act correctly towards an application for records of comfort women to be listed as UNESCO heritage, instead of threatening not to pay its UNESCO membership fees, a Chinese spokesperson said Monday.

If the submitted documents are approved for the UNESCO Memory of the World Register next month, domestic pressure for Japan to cancel payment of its UNESCO membership fees will grow, according to Japanese media.

The application for UNESCO heritage status submitted by more than 10 groups from China, the Republic of Korea and other countries and regions will "allow the world to fully understand the brutality of the war of aggression, remember history, cherish peace and defend human dignity," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a regular news briefing.

The move serves the purposes of the UNESCO, he said.

"The members of international organizations are obliged to pay their membership fees on time and in full. China demands Japan reflect on its history of aggression, and take a correct attitude towards and do not smear or meddle with the application," Lu said.

Forceful recruitment of comfort women, or sex slaves, was a grave crime committed by the Japanese militarism during WWII. There is solid evidence and no room for denying that, Lu said.

He said that Japan should handle the issue properly and in a responsible way to gain trust from its Asian neighbors and the international community.