Posted on 08/02/2005 9:01:43 PM PDT by milestogo
TOKYO, Aug. 2 - Japanese lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution that plays down this country's militarist policies in World War II, less than two weeks before ceremonies take place across Asia marking the 60th anniversary of the war's end on Aug. 15.
Though expressing "regret" for the wartime past, the resolution omitted the references to "invasion" and "colonial rule" that were in the version passed on the 50th anniversary.
The action will most likely be seen by China and Japan's other Asian neighbors as further proof of growing nationalism here. A right-wing vandal seemed to capture a growing sentiment last week when he tried to scrape off the word "mistake" from a peace memorial in Hiroshima that said of Japan's war efforts: "Let all the souls here rest in peace, as we will never repeat this mistake." Arguing that Japan must draw closer to the United States, Mr. Koizumi's government has reinterpreted the Constitution to allow Japanese troops in Iraq and has reversed a longtime ban on the export of arms to join the American missile defense shield. Recent polls show an increasing percentage of Japanese favoring a revision of the Constitution.
The conservative news media have helped demonize China, as well as North Korea, to soften popular resistance to remilitarization. Sankei Shimbun, the country's most conservative daily, recently ran a series about China called "The Threatening Superpower."
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
China ping.
Well, the sabre rattling is coming from the mainland this time. So if I were a Japanese, I would be a bit nervous as well. Equating the act of a nationalist vandal to the concerns of the lawmakers though is a bit of a stretch. The media just loves to push those truth limits don't they. LOL.
We are really screwing the pooch when it comes to the western Pacific. Japan must feel like it's taking a long walk down a short pier.
bttt
This doesn't exactly require all that much help....
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