Sorry Mr. Abe, but you're wrong again

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is yet again confusing right and wrong.

When asked during his trip to Europe whether Japan should emulate Germany in dealing with its wrongdoings in WWII, Abe made it very clear that Japan, under his leadership, will not reflect upon history in the way Germany did.

According to the Japanese Prime Minister, Germany had atoned for its war crimes because Europe was on a path to integration; Japan, on the other hand, cannot and will not do the same because post-war circumstances in Asia and Europe were/are vastly different. Meanwhile, he claimed that Japan had already reached sincere agreements with its neighboring countries on compensation and territorial issues.

None of this is likely to come as much of a surprise if you recall some of Abe's behavior and statements in the past. No one has the capacity to change the course of history since what has happened cannot unhappen, but such conduct remains disturbing and alarming as it demonstrates the determination of the Japanese leadership to carry on abusing the trust placed in the country by its Asian neighbors and the rest of the international community.

The problem with Abe's argument lies in the fact that Germany's repentance was a precondition for rather than the result of Europe's integration. Abe's claim that Japan cannot emulate Germany because of the absence of compromise and a shared goal for integration in Asia ignores the fact that Japan itself has always been the source of tension in the first place, and seeks in turn to blame the righteous anger of its neighboring countries for its own misconduct.

Forgiveness and embrace can only be extended to those who sincerely reflect on the past. The post-war era saw the public, government, parties, churches, and media of Germany taking all kinds of measures to repent for and to put an end to any trace of Nazi extremism. 40 years after the surrender of Fascist Germany, former German President Richard von Weizsaecker made a historic speech before the German Parliament, calling the eighth of May 1945 a day of liberation instead of defeat. "It liberated all of us from the inhumanity and tyranny of the National Socialist regime," Weizsaecker said, winning respect and support from the rest of the world.

In contrast, led by Prime Minister Abe, the rise of the Japanese right wing and its attempts to deny and whitewash Japan's atrocities during WWII reached a culmination last month. Nazi flags appeared in a march in Tokyo on Hitler's birthday and someone dressed up as Hideki Tojo won applause at an event promoting Japan's Liberal Democratic Party. Such incidents are precisely the cause of a lack of common vision in Asia, and will only put Japan on the fast track to further isolation.