Japanese Deputy PM Aso withdraws Nazi remarks  

麻生不堪压力 撤回“学习纳粹方式修宪”发言

Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso speaks at a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday morning

Tokyo (CNS) – Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso said at a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday morning that he wishes to withdraw his Nazi remarks.

"I invited misunderstanding as a result, and I would like to withdraw the statement in which I cited the Nazi regime as an example," he said.

Aso said on Monday in a lecture that Japanese should learn how Germany's constitution under the Weimar Republic was transformed by the Nazis in the early 1930s before anybody knew what was happening.

Japanese media reported on the same day that Aso's remarks might cause controversy.

Aso's remarks were immediately criticized by the international community, including foreign ministries of South Korea and China, and an American human rights group, the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Seiji Mataichi, secretary-general of the opposition Social Democratic Party, said Wednesday he hopes Aso will withdraw his remarks and resign.

"I want to make it clear that the [Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe cabinet will never view the Nazi government positively," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Monday.