Japan's View on Aggressive War to China Unchanged: MoriJapanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori said Thursday Japan's basic view that its 1937-1945 war with China was an act of aggression remains unchanged."There is no change in our basic view. I simply omitted the part (about aggression)," said Mori, who was slammed by China on Wednesday over his recent vague explanation about his view on Japan's past invasion of China. Mori told a House of Representatives Budget Committee session Monday that views on war depend on different historic backgrounds, and whether Japan launched an aggressive war against China in the past should be judged by people in the process of history. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki also said Mori's earlier comments did not indicate a departure from Japan's position on a 1995 statement issued by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, which said Japan's past war against China was an act of aggression. Murayama expressed "deep remorse and a heartfelt apology" for the "tremendous damage and suffering" inflicted on "the people of many countries, particularly on those of Asian nations" through Japan's wartime "colonial rule and aggression." "We will try to avoid any misunderstanding in our efforts to build good relations between Japan and China, while learning from the lessons of history," Aoki, the top Japanese government spokesman added. |
| Please visit People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |