Abe adheres to abnormality

The Foreign Affairs Committee of Japan's House of Representatives last week adopted a resolution criticizing China's drilling operations off the Xisha Islands, claiming they are exacerbating tensions in the South China Sea.

This resolution follows similar groundless accusations made by senior Japanese government officials including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

Japan is the party least eligible to point a finger at issues pertaining to the South China Sea, as not only has it no direct involvement now, it is Japan itself that created the historical legacy issues by illegally seizing Chinese islands during World War II, said a Xinhua News Agency commentary.

If the Abe administration refutes these basic and internationally accepted historical facts after nearly seven decades, it should first question the documents that allowed Japan to return to the international community after the horrific war it waged. If Abe said that the resolution follows his doctrine of "active pacifism," then maybe the prime minister needs to first find a dictionary and carefully read the definition the word "pacifism".

If Japan has the slightest respect for history, it should be the staunchest advocate of China's rightful sovereignty over the islands, or at least treat the South China Sea issue cautiously, rather than stirring up trouble.

Instead, its attitude toward the Xisha Islands issue has exposed the Abe administration's lack of respect for history and lack of shame for the country's wartime atrocities.

In a related development, Japan on Wednesday asked China to withdraw its application to list documents relating to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and "comfort women" as part of the Memory of the World.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said during a press conference that, "Japan has lodged a protest and asked China to withdraw the application."

The demand seems all the more unreasonable given Japan's earlier attempt to apply for the writings of "Kamikaze" pilots, those who committed suicide attacks against the Allies forces during WWII, as part of the World's Memory.

Abe and his administration have vowed that they will bolster Japan's strength and make Japan a "normal country", but if the leaders of the country cannot squarely face up to the country's history, Japan's image as a nation in the international community will only become increasingly abnormal.