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Major Japan paper denied WWII Sex Slave
1998-08-11
TOKYO - A major Japanese newspaper on Tuesday stepped into a World War Two row about Japan paying compensation to the World War II sex slaves, saying there was no confirmation they were forced into prostitution.In an editorial on an issue that is one of the longest-running disputes between Japan and nations including China, the Philippines and South Korea, the Yomiuri Shimbun said if Japan was condemned, the United States should be held accountable for similar practices during its occupation of Japan. The row came to a boil again last week because of a report to a United Nations human rights sub-committee which said Japan should pay compensation to the comfort women and recommended prosecution of those who established the sex slave system. Criticising ``inadequate fact-checking,'' the Yomiuri was cited by Reuters as saying: ``Japan should not be singled out for several reasons, not least because it has not even been confirmed the wartime government forced the comfort women to provide sexual services.'' The editorial in Japan's biggest circulation newspaper was an embarrassment for Japan's Foreign Ministry, which announced on the same day that Chinese President Jiang Zemin would make an official visit to Japan from September 6 to 11, the first Chinese president to do so. Jiang's visit is regarded as a major step by the two nations towards leaving their bitter wartime past behind after decades of chilly ties because of issues such as the sex slave system. Associations representing the women estimate up to 200,000 women, mainly from China, the Philippines, South Korea and the Netherlands, were used as sex slaves by Japanese forces. The Yomiuri demanded to know why the issue was raised more than 50 years after the war ended, and when the committee's main responsibility was to deal with human rights abuses in places such as Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. While saying ``dark sides'' of nations must be included for history to be correct, it called the report ``unreasonable'' for ignoring different historical interpretations and naming a specific nation ``the source of all evil.'' The editorial questioned why the report did not mention what it said were ``Recreation and Amusement Association'' facilities set up during the occupation of Japan. Calling them ``prostitution facilities for officers of the Allied forces,'' it said some were set up by the U.S. military. ``If (the report) asks the Japanese government to provide compensation for the comfort women and requests that those who set up the system be punished, why doesn't it make the same request to the government of the United States?'' it said. ``This only damages the credibility of the United Nations, which claims 'universality' to be one of its guiding principles,'' the paper added. The editorial comes in the wake of comments, later retracted, by new Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who said last week it was not known if the comfort women were forced into sexual servitude. The editorial, in what is regarded as one of Japan's most authoritative newspapers, was published four days before August 15, anniversary of the end of the war. It is a date when many visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine to pay respects to Japanese war dead, including seven war criminals who were executed. The visits are regularly slammed by many Asian nations, who see them as a tacit endorsement of Japan's actions during the war. Nine ministers in the 21-member cabinet of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, including Nakagawa, plan to visit the shrine on Saturday, the 53rd anniversary of the war's end. Obuchi has said he will not take part.
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