China and the 2nd World War
Although to most in the U.S. the events of WWII seem like ancient history, or, at best, an important lesson that should not be forgotten, to much of China these grisly years are still a very important national, and personal, issue. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, and while most of the world celebrates, China lingers on issues that, in their eyes, remain unresolved.
During World War II, what China calls the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese Imperial Army committed terrible atrocities against the people of China, and other Asian countries their forces occupied, on a moral scale, if not a numerical scale, similar to their counterparts in the Nazi regime. The most vivid example of these crimes is the Rape of Nanking (now called Nanjing) during which approximately 2-300,000 Chinese were murdered by Japanese soldiers. According to historians, between 20,000 and 80,000 women were raped during this time in brutal ways, including the systematic adoption of “comfort women,” Chinese women who were kept in a house of prostitution to be used by Japanese soldiers. Theft and arson were also a part of the Rape of Nanking, many Chinese homes burnt to the ground by the Japanese.
Japan acknowledges these atrocities, but disputes their severity. Japan continually downplays the events of what it calls “the Nanking Incident,” denies the existence of comfort women, and calls into doubt the estimated number of dead.
Japan has not issued a formal apology for the crimes committed during World War II, primarily because the new regime wishes to distance itself from the Imperial Army as far as is possible, and because the events in question occurred over 60 years ago.
However, China continues to bring the issue to the forefront, citing new evidence of the atrocities as it is discovered, protesting what they call a warping of history in Japanese text books, and demanding an apology from Japanese President Katsuya Okada, insisting that he ceases to visit the Yasukuni Shrine. The shine, which is dedicated to about 2.5 million people who have died in Japan's conflicts between 1853 and 1945, also honors known war criminals as "gunshin," or war gods.
Some accuse China of dwelling on the past and villanizing Japan in order to draw attention away from the inequities of its own regime. Whatever the reasons, these issues remain important to many citizens of the People’s Republic of China.
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