Japan needs unjaundiced view

A dose of sobriety and acceptance of historical truths are the remedy for the rightist sickness clouding its vision and preventing healthy ties with China

China has been taking a series of significant moves to mark the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. Last Monday President Xi Jinping joined hundreds of people in an unusually high-profile ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the start of the all-out war with Japan, stressing the need to correctly view and hold the right attitude toward history.

Earlier this year, China officially proclaimed Dec 13 as the Public Memorial Day for the 1937 Nanjing Massacre committed by the Japanese army. And recently the State Archives Administration began to publish the confessions of Japanese war criminals, at the rate of one confession a day, while the Jilin Archives Administration has published letters of Japanese soldiers that were censored by the Japanese army because they recorded its crimes.

These acts are of special meaning. As both a victim and a victor of World War II, China has regulated its view of history in terms of law. As early as 1972 when China and Japan normalized bilateral relations, it was listed in their joint declaration that Japan should view history without bias and not deny its historical aggression against China. That commitment was considered a foundation stone for bilateral political ties and a prerequisite for improving relations.

Currently the relationship between China and Japan is at its lowest point since 1972 and many experts attribute that to the territorial dispute over the Diaoyu Islands. This dispute is also entwined with Japan's attitude toward history. Japanese historical records show that as early as 1894 militant Japan had cast greedy eyes on the Diaoyu Islands, called the Senkakus in Japan, and they finally seized them among other Chinese territories in the 1894-95 Sino-Japanese War.

Thus the Diaoyu Islands are not only territorial soil for China, but also a scar that reminds China of its past subjugation and infamy. In defending its sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, China is defending the dignity of the nation and its people.

The problem is that the Japanese government has not yet realized this, or simply chooses to ignore it. Actually, the worsening of the relationship has always been associated with Japanese politicians' moves that hurt China emotionally. More than one Japanese scholar has pointed out that co-development of resources near the Diaoyu Islands could have become reality if the Japanese government viewed its historical crimes in a more acceptable way.