2 ]1 F- Z1 T+ w7 q 《华盛顿邮报》25日在A16版“安倍晋三的含糊其词”的社论说，日本首相安倍有权对朝鲜表示不满，但同时，他试图推卸日本政府在二战中犯下的战争罪行责任，这令很多人感到难受。华盛顿邮报说，日本政府在第二次世界大战中从中国、朝鲜、菲律宾以及其他亚洲国家强征数十万名女性，强奸她们，并将她们作为性奴隶，一些幸存的“慰安妇”今年在国会听证会上作证时描绘出令人恐惧的经历。可是日本政府却从来没有完全承认她们在战争中遭受的虐待，也没有支付过任何赔偿，他们的确是坏透了！安倍晋三先生违背以往的声明，作为一个民主社会的领导人，这是一种玷污。& P- a) ~9 S. T/ |" z1 t
% C, R [! F4 @: X 社论在最后一段指出，安倍也许认为，它可以通过否认日本政府直接参与强征慰安妇以加强日本对朝鲜的压力和日本要求的正当性，但结果确是恰恰相反。如果日本想要获得国际社会的声援，安倍先生应毫不含糊地承认日本自己以前犯下的战争罪行，并向那些受害者道歉。/ \7 ~1 d5 q1 B' Y' v4 ~
8 P2 @, g9 T/ VShinzo Abe's Double Talk( s, s, z* G: Y
He's passionate about Japanese victims of North Korea -- and blind to Japan's own war crimes. 2 I, g+ w" R% d' ~ ' {% t) R* Z5 T8 q5 STHE TOUGHEST player in the "six-party" talks on North Korea this week was not the Bush administration -- which was engaged in an unseemly scramble to deliver $25 million in bank funds demanded by the regime of Kim Jong Il -- but Japan. Tokyo is insisting that North Korea supply information about 17 Japanese citizens allegedly kidnapped by the North decades ago, refusing to discuss any improvement in relations until it receives answers. This single-note policy is portrayed as a matter of high moral principle by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has used Japan's victims -- including a girl said to have been abducted when she was 13 -- to rally his wilting domestic support.6 f0 B. m. S8 Q3 _7 P9 x- G9 Y
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Mr. Abe has a right to complain about Pyongyang's stonewalling. What's odd -- and offensive -- is his parallel campaign to roll back Japan's acceptance of responsibility for the abduction, rape and sexual enslavement of tens of thousands of women during World War II. Responding to a pending resolution in the U.S. Congress calling for an official apology, Mr. Abe has twice this month issued statements claiming there is no documentation proving that the Japanese military participated in abducting the women. A written statement endorsed by his cabinet last week weakened a 1993 government declaration that acknowledged Japan's brutal treatment of the so-called comfort women. 7 _* X7 H) ~# b: G) o. Y2 }3 C A# ~ J- R& c; q2 @2 cIn fact the historical record on this issue is no less convincing than the evidence that North Korea kidnapped Japanese citizens, some of whom were used as teachers or translators. Historians say that up to 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines and other Asian countries were enslaved and that Japanese soldiers participated in abductions. Many survivors of the system have described their horrifying experiences, including three who recently testified to Congress. That the Japanese government has never fully accepted responsibility for their suffering or paid compensation is bad enough; that Mr. Abe would retreat from previous statements is a disgrace for a leader of a major democracy. 8 b. l( H0 f' D7 C! |6 D" ?3 m5 K# T( a( f, T
Mr. Abe may imagine that denying direct participation by the Japanese government in abductions may strengthen its moral authority in demanding answers from North Korea. It does the opposite. If Mr. Abe seeks international support in learning the fate of Japan's kidnapped citizens, he should straightforwardly accept responsibility for Japan's own crimes -- and apologize to the victims he has slandered.
