Japanese rightists’ move to deny Nanjing Massacre doomed to fail

THURSDAY MARKS THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY for Nanjing Massacre Victims. On Monday, a monument for the victims, the first of its kind overseas, was unveiled in Toronto, Canada. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

In October 2017, the Ontario provincial parliament passed a motion to formally memorialize the victims of the Nanjing Massacre.

The move is a victory for all people who vow to defend justice and the historical facts. It means that increasingly more overseas residents are recognizing the crimes committed by the military forces of imperial Japan during World War II, which will make it more difficult for anyone in Japan to deny the historical truth.

Just like Wang Haibin, an associate professor of Japanese studies at the University of International Business and Economics, said, there are many right-wing people in Japan who equate their nation’s defeat in the war only as the result of its mistake in not joining the Western alliance. Some of them play tricks by trying to cover up what the Japanese troops did in neighboring countries. The existence of a monument in a Western city will help to end any illusions some in Japan might have that people will forget what happened. We hope more monuments will be established elsewhere in the world.

Actually, China has taken many more measures to make that part of history known to the world, and the most important one is trying to find out the names of all the victims, said Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of Japanese studies at China Foreign Affairs University.

On Monday, 26 new names were added to the list of the victims carved on the wall of remembrance inside the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, and the total number of the names is now 10,664. “Every name of a victim is a solid evidence to the Nanjing Massacre,” Zhou said. “More importantly, by trying to find out the name of every victim in the massacre, China is showing its respect to life and history.”

That move will in turn ensure that part of history can never be distorted.

Obviously, Washington intended to use Meng as a weight to gain an upper hand in the 90-day trade negotiations with China.

Facing a rising China, the anxiety of Washington is understandable. Otherwise, it would not have risked everyone’s condemnation to ask Canada to hold Meng for ransom, a dirty trick.

If the plot of Meng’s case becomes a conventional practice, large numbers of entrepreneurs around the world face the threat of losing their freedom because of unilateral long-arm law enforcement.

The US is abusing its power. The country takes it for granted that all its illnesses can be cured by coercing others to take the medicines it prescribes. This trend has become increasingly evident since the presidential election in 2016.

Beijing has made the sensible decision of practicing restraint so far, treating the case as a separate one from the ongoing trade frictions. And Huawei’s calm and concise reaction also passes the buck to the US side.

The relative decline of the US’ power prompted it to act hysterically under the influence of domestic politics. The growing political decay has spread serious out-of-control behavior, of which Meng’s abduction is just the latest embodiment.

How to deal with the irrational and headstrong US is a test that China cannot steer clear of in the process of its rise.