Japanese denial of Nanjing Massacre deplorable

--> Japanese denial of Nanjing Massacre deplorable

	Updated daily Monday through Friday
	Tuesday, January 25, 2000

	Japanese denial of Nanjing Massacre deplorable

	Published: January 25, 2000 Source: The China Post

	t is deplorable and outrageous that a group of Japanese rightists held a conference in Osaka on Sunday questioning the 17 Nanjing Massacre which they called "the biggest lie of the 20th century." To deny the atrocities committed by Japan's imperial army after the fall of the city is an act of cowardice. It reflects Japan's lack of courage to face history. There are still many living witnesses to the massacre, in which more than 300,000 Chinese people, including women and children, were slaughtered, raped and maimed by rampaging Japanese soldiers. No wonder the Chinese people are indignant. Most Japanese regret that such a conference was allowed to take place at all. "The people claiming there was no Nanjing Massacre, including the organizers of this conference, are the people who would maintain that Japan's war in mainland China was legitimate, that it was not an invasion," said Tokushi Kasahara, a professor of Chinese modern history at Tsuru University in Tokyo." All wars are tragic, as they bring untold suffering to the people. Nazi Germany committed genocide against the Jews during World War II, but the Germans did not deny the existence of the Holocaust. In contrast, many Japanese are still reluctant to face the history of the last World War and are trying to whitewash the crimes against humanity. The Japanese government, for instance, has refused to admit the existence of not only the Nanjing Massacre, but also the hundreds of Korean and Chinese comfort women forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers. Denials of past atrocities by Japanese rightists as well as by certain Japanese government officials attest to the fact that Japan as a whole is unwilling to face its past and repent wrongdoing. For years, the Japanese government has tried to avoid telling Japanese students the truth about its invasion of mainland China and of other parts of Asia during World War II, and textbooks fail to mention that dishonorable portion of their history. But efforts to disguise such horrible crimes do not and will not change the undeniable historical data. Such facts are well recorded and documented, and are part of contemporary history. Fortunately, there are still many conscientious and honest Japanese people, including well-known historians, who have come forward to refute the absurd views held by a handful of narrow-minded, extremist nationalists who are trying to negate history. Such efforts will prove futile because the annals of history tell no lies. To say that Nanjing Massacre was a "big lie" is in fact "the biggest lie of the 20th century."