Japan must own up to militarist past

From this year, Sept 3 will officially mark Chinese people's victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945). This should be taken as a message by Japan to reflect on its war atrocities and stop trying to destabilize East Asia.

The geographical proximity between China and Japan has always tied together the history of the two nations. As early as the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618 ) and Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), Japan sent several envoys to study in China. And maritime trade prospered between the two countries until 1635 when the Tokugawa Shogunate adopted a policy of isolationism in Japan.

However, despite once being very close, conflicts - and their legacies - have driven the two countries apart. The most daunting memories, especially for China, are still tied to the two Sino-Japanese Wars of the modern age.

The first was the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, in which Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) rulers were defeated and forced to pay a huge indemnity and relinquish Taiwan to Japan. The war also sowed the seeds of the future Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute.

The second was the Chinese people's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression that merged into World War II. Although China eventually emerged victorious with the help of the Allied powers, it paid a very heavy price: the loss of about 35 million lives and $383 billion in properties.

In Chinese people's mind, the two violent invasions of China by the relatively small island country of Japan are humiliating experiences which should never be forgotten. But on the other side, the Japanese government has never officially acknowledged or apologized for its history of brutal military aggression, especially against China.

China doesn't seek war compensation; it only wants Japan to officially acknowledge the atrocities it unleashed on neighboring countries, especially China, and apologize for its war crimes. But instead of doing that, Japanese politicians have been paying frequent visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A World War II criminals.

Japanese probably view apologies as a kind of shame. But they would do well to study former West German chancellor Willy Brandt's Warschauer Kniefall, an outstanding work on the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The book made the then West Germany gain more respect from its neighbors, which had suffered under Nazi invasions. As a former opponent of the Nazis, Brandt had no need to apologize but as a German leader he did so on behalf of his people, for their collective guilt.

In contrast, Japanese leaders have adamantly refused to issue any apology. Worse, some of today's Japanese leaders are the scions of powerful wartime families.

Moreover, beyond the perceived shame, Japan cannot accept that China has overtaken it as the world's second-largest economy. As a result, it uses every excuse to make some noise while forgetting that China will no longer fall for its games and lose face again. It is thus no surprise that China has been toughening its stance on the Diaoyu Islands dispute, for instance, by announcing the Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea.

This year, as the West observes the centennial of the start of World War I, China is commemorating the 120th anniversary of the first Sino-Japanese War. History is a mirror, and it has to be reviewed to build a better future, not to generate hatred, which means Japan can ensure its long-term development and regional security only after admitting its militarist past.

China, on its part, could choose either to follow the proverb "blood will have blood" or to take the Confucian advice to "recompense injury with justice". But it is wise to keep in mind another proverb, "vengeance has a way of rebounding upon oneself".

In 1998, China and Japan agreed to build a "friendly and cooperative partnership for peace and development" toward the 21st century. Despite the latest diplomatic flare-up, that should be the visionary guide leading the two countries out of their history of confrontations.

The author is a social responsibility investment analyst and independent commentator based in Singapore.

The Globalist.