Golden year for Japan to apologize for wartime atrocities

As Abraham Lincoln famously said, you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

Most of the witnesses of Japanese war crimes are entering the closing years of their life, but the truths supporting them are long-lasting.

This year, which marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and China's victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, has presented historic opportunities for the Japanese government to show sincere remorse over war crimes and achieve reconciliation with its wartime victims.

However, some of the Japanese right-wing dailies, including the national paper Sankei Shimbun, appear to be taking advantage of the anniversaries to whitewash the nation's history of aggression by carrying so-called testimonies of veterans denying their heinous atrocities.

One headline read that Nanjing in December 1937 was an "empty city with no army or residents". In fact, 300,000 were murdered in Nanjing by the invaders.

Such blatant claims are disgraces to the abundant evidence presented at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal, as well as to many documentaries recording the slaughters.

Not to mention photos taken by Japanese troops at the time of the massacre, letters by Japanese soldiers, news reports by Japanese journalists, and the confessions of Japanese troops.

These ironclad facts broach no challenge. Instead of fooling readers who can easily find out truths online, Japanese journalists are only making fools of themselves with these reports.

Their circulation has led many observers to assume that they are creating ambience for Shinzo Abe to further distort history in an official statement for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama apologized for "colonial rule" and "aggression" in his landmark 1995 statement, which was inherited by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in 2005.

However, most Japanese leaders have not yet reflected or apologized as deeply and sincerely as German leaders have done over the Holocaust.

Observers hold that only by being honest about history can Japan win trust from its Asian neighbors and the international community.

A similar message was conveyed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her visit to Japan this week, the first in seven years.

Merkel urged that "facing history squarely" and "generous gestures" by its neighbors are necessary to mend ties.

Since China has shown generosity to Japan, differentiating the militarist minority that committed crimes and the Japanese majority, it now turns to Japan to act with sincerity, rather than ignore history.

Asked whether Beijing would invite Japanese leaders to commemorative events held by China, Wang Yi, Chinese foreign minister and a former Chinese envoy to Japan, said China welcomes the participation of "anyone who is sincere about coming".

It should be noted the scheduled events are not aimed at fanning the flame of animosity but at remembering history, commemorating martyrs, cherishing peace and looking forward to the future.

Looking back on history, friendly exchanges between China and Japan are the mainstay of relations which span more than 2,000 years.

After sitting at a low ebb due to territorial and historical issues since 2012, there are signs of the ties strengthening again, evidenced by agreement on resumption of political, diplomatic and security dialogues in late March this year and a leaders' meeting in November 2014. Meanwhile, the number of Chinese tourists to Japan increased substantially last year.

A sincere apology for wartime atrocities from Japan will surely bare out its intention to follow a path of peaceful development and inject more vitality into bilateral exchanges.

The ball is now in Japan's court and it is time for Abe to command political courage to make the right choice on history in this special year.