Japan urged to stop spreading false narratives

China has once again urged certain individuals in Japan to stop peddling false narratives, retract erroneous remarks on the Taiwan question, and provide a responsible explanation to China and the international community.

The remarks were made on Wednesday by Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun at a regular news briefing in Beijing, in response to reports that Keiichi Ichikawa, head of Japan's National Security Secretariat, recently held talks with officials of the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Canada to articulate Japan's position on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's comments on Taiwan and rebut China's response to the comments.

Ichikawa said that Takaichi's remarks had not altered Japan's long-standing policy on Taiwan. Some individuals in Japan also asserted that the country is "peace-loving" and that China's criticism is "inconsistent with the facts".

Guo said that Japan's actions have once again exposed how some people in the country knowingly distort facts, refuse to correct their wrongdoings, and attempt to portray themselves as victims to solicit sympathy from the international community.

Right-wing forces in Japan have a long record of spreading false narratives, portraying wars of aggression against Asian neighbors as "the liberation of Asia", downplaying the appalling Nanjing Massacre as "the Nanjing incident", whitewashing the notorious Unit 731 as a "public health research unit", and dismissing forced labor and "comfort women" as "voluntary acts", Guo noted.

After World War II, Japan constructed a narrative of itself as a victim of war while deliberately avoiding the mention of militarism as the source of warfare, he said.

Japan claims to uphold an "exclusively defense-oriented" principle and a "passive" defense strategy, but has repeatedly eased restrictions on the exercise of collective self-defense, relaxed limits on arms exports, and even sought to revise its three nonnuclear principles, he added.

Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan have not only triggered strong public outrage in China, but have also drawn opposition and criticism within Japan and from many other countries, Guo pointed out.

What Japan should do is listen to these voices and engage in soul-searching, instead of making futile attempts to persuade other countries into believing its groundless explanations, he said.

Region on 'high alert'

Responding to a question on why representatives of the Chinese Foreign Ministry met with ambassadors from Southeast Asian countries following Takaichi's remarks, Guo said the ministry maintains normal working relations with diplomatic missions in China.

The one-China principle is a widely recognized basic norm governing international relations and represents a broad consensus of the international community, including Southeast Asian countries, he added.

Guo said that Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan seriously violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations, openly challenge the outcomes of World War II victory and international justice, and have raised a high alert among countries and peoples in the region about the dangerous trend of reviving Japanese militarism.

Safeguarding the postwar international order and upholding humanity's conscience and justice serve the shared interests of all parties and constitute an inevitable choice for all countries, he said.

Many countries in the region have recently reiterated their commitment to the one-China principle, underscored the need to remain vigilant against and resist any resurgence of militarism, Guo said, urging Japan to correct its wrongdoings through serious reflection and cease creating confusion and discord.

zhaojia@chinadaily.com.cn