Japan urged to properly handle 'comfort women' issue

Tragedy of ‘Comfort Women’

BEIJING -- China on Friday urged Japan to properly deal with the issue of wartime sex slavery with concrete action and a responsible attitude.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying made the remarks at a regular press briefing.

The Japanese government will present to parliament Friday the results of a review of evidence that led to the Kono statement over wartime sex slavery, according to media reports.

The Kono Statement is an official apology made in 1993 by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono, who acknowledged that Japan's government recruited more than 200,000 young women and forced them to serve in military brothels.

In February, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga announced a reexamination of the evidence on how the decision to apologize was reached, and on what historical facts it was based.

It was unclear what would happen if Tokyo's review is at odds with the official apology, which followed testimony from 16 Korean women.

In the face of hard evidence, any attempts to modify the facts will be unpopular, Hua said, urging the Japanese side to show remorse for its history of aggression.

She also called on Japan to keep its commitment to international society made in the Kono statement.

Last week, UNESCO accepted China's application to list documents related to the Nanjing Massacre and the enslaving of wartime prostitutes on the Memory of the World Register.