Newspaper slams NHK official's denial of massacre

NANJING - A newspaper based in Nanjing on Thursday published a commentary denouncing the remarks made by an official of Japan's public broadcaster NHK, who denied the Nanjing Massacre.

Naoki Hyakuta, a member of the NHK board of governors, said in a speech this week that the Nanjing Massacre never happened, claiming that the massacre is "propaganda" by the Chinese side and the propaganda is ignored by other countries.

"History allows no attempt to cover up by goblins or evil minds," said the commentary published in the Xinhua Daily, a newspaper run by a media corporation in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province.

"The remains in the 'pit of ten thousand corpses' in Nanjing, the scars on the survivors' bodies, as well as numerous photos and historical essays all tell the undisputed facts of the savage attack," the article said.

From January to May in 1938, the Xinhua Daily has published over 10 reports on the Nanjing Massacre. More evidence has been found in later studies, it said.

For the Chinese people, especially people in Nanjing, the massacre 77 years ago has left indelible pains, and the criminals' distortions of facts and unrepentant attitude are like "rubbing salt into others' wounds," the article said.

Hyakuta's fallacy itself deserves no comment, but the repeated reference of the cliche by Japanese right-wing forces needs to be observed with high vigilance, it said.

"For one thing, as Hyakuta is a senior official of NHK, how can people be convinced that the Japanese media are taking an objective and just stance toward history? Moreover, the media's stance may affect the public's knowledge about WWII history," the commentary said.

"For another, although Hyakuta's speech was claimed to be 'personal opinion,' it came in perfect unison with the moves of the Abe administration, as the denial of the massacre is just like the acts of revising textbooks, rewriting the pacifist constitution and the visit to the Yasukuni shrine. All these moves were aimed to challenge the post-war world order and once again militarize the country," according to the article.

What is more dangerous, the commentary added, is that Hyakuta's rhetoric was preached during an open curbside speech, a fact that may indicate rising militaristic sentiment among Japanese society.

Sirens in Nanjing wail on December 13 every year to mark the six weeks of killing, burning, looting and rape in the city, and to remember the victims and remind people that history must not be repeated, the article said.

Japanese people should also be wary of the country's history of invasion, as only by facing up to the facts and correcting past wrongs can the country win the respect of others and secure real friends, it said.

The resurgence of militarism in Japan is not only a disaster of the world, but will also throw Japan into a doomed abyss, it said.

"We demand the Japanese recognize history and repent from their crimes, and that they not pass on the hatred, but look ahead and cherish peace," it said.

History should not be blotted out, and it never will be, the article said.