‘Face up to your wartime past,' China’s premier tells Japan
Premier Li Keqiang yesterday urged Japan to face up to its past militarism and said this year, the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war, would test bilateral relations.
"The crux of the issue is how the war and that part of history are viewed," Li said.
Political leaders should not only respect the achievements of their predecessors but also bear responsibility for their "crimes committed in the past," the premier said, noting that the war imposed by "Japanese militarists" brought tremendous suffering also to the Japanese people.
"At such a critical moment this year, there are both a test and an opportunity for China-Japan relations," he said.
China has been closely watching what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, viewed by critics as a revisionist hawk, will say this summer on the war anniversary.
China is concerned Abe may not uphold Japan's past apologies, such as those expressed in key statements on the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the war's end, which used the terms "colonial rule" and "aggression."
Li said there would be "new opportunities" for an improvement in bilateral ties and more growth in business activities if Japanese leaders had the same spirit to learn from the past.
He said a series of events, including a military parade, to mark the anniversary of the conflict, or what it calls its victory in the war against Japanese aggression, is aimed at "firmly bearing in mind the hard lessons gained … and ensuring that that history will never repeat itself."
The commemorations are meant to uphold the post-war international order and maintain peace in the world, he said.