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Coerced by history and pride

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What was he thinking? That is the question that most thoughtful observers of the US-Japan alliance grappled with last week. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had fumbled questions about the Japanese government's role in recruiting 'comfort women' during the second world war.

His responses came close to undoing the progress he had made in restoring relations with China and South Korea, and threatened to drive a wedge between Tokyo and Washington. They reveal uncomfortable truths about Japan - facts that the US must nonetheless acknowledge when dealing with its ally.

The controversy began on March 1, when Mr Abe was asked about a Liberal Democratic Party group that wanted the government to revisit - in other words, rescind - the 1993 statement by then chief cabinet secretary Yohei Kono. It declared that the military had been involved in establishing 'comfort stations'. In many cases, comfort women were recruited against their own will 'through coaxing, coercion, etc ...', it said.

Conservatives object to two points: the role the military played and the degree to which it actually 'coerced' women. Mr Abe said the meaning of 'coercion' was unclear, and the accuracy of the statement depended on how the word was defined. Ignored was his comment that his government stood behind the Kono statement.

The readiness to challenge the conclusion that the government coerced the women unleashed a firestorm of controversy, not least because the US House of Representatives had just heard testimony from former comfort women that seemed to confirm the charge.

Why did Mr Abe fan the flames, especially when they threatened to undercut the diplomacy that offered such promise for the new administration?

First, it should be noted that the prime minister wasn't volunteering for controversy: he didn't choose to make this an issue. He was responding to questions triggered by the actions of others. This does not excuse or fully explain the response, however, or the bumbling since.

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