BEIJING, Dec. 28 (UPI) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe‘s offer of condolences during his visit to Pearl Harbor has been welcomed as a gesture of reconciliation in the United States and Japan.
But China is taking a less positive approach to the ceremony that was held in Hawaii this week.
Beijing’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters Wednesday Abe’s visit marked a lack of “deep genuine reflection,” according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
“What I’d like to emphasize is the fact Japan initiated a war of aggression against China and other Asian nations,” Hua said. “A reconciliation between perpetrator and victim must be based on the perpetrator’s deep genuine reflection.”
Hua also described Abe’s condolences as a “show” and called on Tokyo to apologize for past wartime invasions.
The statement from the foreign ministry has been followed by more strongly worded editorials from Chinese state media.
Beijing’s Liberation Army Daily said Abe’s Hawaii visit is an example of expanding on Japan’s “unauthorized” diplomacy, and pointed out the Japanese prime minister stopped short of issuing an apology for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
“History is history, and it must never be used as a trading card,” the newspaper stated.
Abe’s visit has been received positively in Japan, but some survivors are taking issue with his lack of apology, according to Kyodo news agency Wednesday.
Kunihiko Sakuma, head of the Hiroshima chapter of the Japan Confederation of A-and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations, told Kyodo that Abe “should have apologized for Japan pulling the trigger of war.”
“Only then would we be able to call it future-oriented,” Sakuma said.
