Wrong to single out Japan
As a person of Chinese ethnicity who was born and raised a Canadian and currently spending a couple of weeks in the territory, I would like to reply to the letter of Elsie and Andrew Tu (South China Morning Post, June 10).
Their grievance is with the Japanese Government who they accuse of rewriting history and of attempting to revise the constitution so as to allow Japanese troops to be stationed overseas.
While not for one moment condoning some of the worst excesses of the Japanese in this century, I would like to comment on some aspects of their letter which disturb me. Firstly, only the actions of the Japanese that affected China and Asia have been singled out by the Tus for censure.
The Japanese were also, of course, responsible for the deaths and suffering of many other people, including Allied soldiers during World War II. Indeed, my elderly next-door neighbour performs a lonely vigil each morning at the grave of her husband of just one year, who died from starvation two months from the war's end building the railway in Burma. His son never saw him.
Secondly, at a time when Tung Chi-hwa is calling on Hong Kong people to cast aside old baggage and forget the past, we have letters such as this full of words such as 'stench' and 'pathetic'. I am not sure whether it is right to forget the lessons of the past, but I am sure of one thing: the need for consistency and the imperative of avoiding racism.
If the inglorious history of one nation should be recalled in order to ensure terrible things never happen again, then it is only right that events such as the Great Leap Forward and Tiananmen Square be remembered for the same reason. Justice knows no national boundaries.
HENRY WANG WEI-KONG Victoria British Columbia, Canada
