Obama urges Japan to recognise past honestly

In Tokyo, Obama also made Abe happy by welcoming and supporting his move to lift Japan’s self-imposed ban on exercising the right of collective self-defence.

Abe says Japan needs to regain the right of collective self-defence to ensure that the Japan-US alliance functions more effectively. He says the ban makes it impossible for Japan to come to the aid of the US when it is under an armed attack by a third country.

But his push for collective self-defence is intended to make Japan a military powerhouse. Abe has already taken measures to beef up Japan’s Self-Defence Forces.

Abe says Japan needs a stronger military to be able to contribute to global peace more proactively. But this justification sounds hollow, as his hard-line security policy and revisionist historical perspective have in fact alienated Japan from the rest of the world.

Washington backs Japan’s military buildup as it will help counterbalance China’s rapid military expansion. However, Abe’s push for a militarily stronger Japan is cause for grave concern among countries that were victimised by its militarism in the past.

Abe has raised the specter of a militaristic Japan by denying Japan’s invasion of Asian countries during World War II and questioning the legitimacy of the Japanese government’s official apologies for wartime atrocities.

Washington should not overlook this concern among Asian countries if it seeks to play a leadership role in this region. In this regard, it was regrettable that Obama did not bother to raise the history issue during his summit with Abe.

Last December, the US government openly rebuked Abe for visiting the Yasukuni Shrine in defiance of its repeated warnings. In March, Obama had to play the role of a mediator to bring President Park Geun-hye and Abe together for a trilateral summit in The Hague.

But just a couple of days before Obama’s arrival in Tokyo, Japanese lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine en masse, angering Korea and China. Abe was also criticized for offering a gift to the war memorial.

The Japanese politicians’ behavior was absurd, to say the least. In light of Washington’s disapproval of Abe’s visit in December, they should have refrained from visiting the shrine ahead of the summit.