USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Home / World

    US House links spending bill to 'comfort women'

    By Zhou Wa and Zhang Fan in Beijing and Chen Weihua in Washington | China Daily | Updated: 2014-01-17 07:20

    The US House of Representatives has for the first time passed a $1 trillion spending bill to which a document is attached, calling for US Secretary of State John Kerry to encourage Japan to address the issue of "comfort women" - women forced to be sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

    Although the bill is not legally binding, its approval has important symbolic meaning because it can exert pressure on Japan to change its historical perception, observers said.

    A document attached to the bill for 2014 urges the secretary to encourage the implementation of Resolution 121, which was adopted by the chamber in July 2007.

    The resolution calls for the Japanese government to "formally acknowledge, apologize and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner" for its coercion of more than 200,000 young women into sexual slavery during its colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands during World War II.

    Meanwhile, the Republic of Korea plans to partner with China and several Southeast Asian countries to seek UN world documentary heritage status for comfort women, a ROK official said on Tuesday.

    "We will file an application with the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization to list 'comfort women' in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register," Kim Un-ji, a section head of the ROK Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, said in a news release.

    Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga showed his displeasure at the ROK proposal on Wednesday, Xinhua News Agency quoted Japanese reports as saying.

    The conscription of women, including from China, the ROK and Southeast Asia, to act as prostitutes was a grave crime committed by the Japanese military, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a news briefing on Thursday.

    China, the ROK and other Asian countries have similar experiences and concerns regarding Japan's history.

    "China would like to work with other victimized countries to maintain historical justice and to urge Japan to correct its understanding of history and reflect on its own history to gain trust from neighboring countries and the international community," Hong said.

    Japan attempted to play down its aggressive history and downplay the comfort women issue and other war crimes committed during World War II, angering its neighbors including China and the ROK, and causing disappointment in its main ally, the United States.

    On Dec 26, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the Yasukuni shrine that honors Japan's war dead, including 14 Class-A war criminals.

    The document attached to the spending bill shows that Japan's denial of responsibility for crimes committed during World War II has aroused deep concern in the US, said Lyu Yaodong, director of the Japanese diplomacy department of the Institute of Japan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

    "Japan's attitude toward the issue of comfort women and its history of aggression has alerted all of international society. The US wants to urge Japan to be more cautious of its words and actions through the passing of the document," Lyu said.

    Although the document is nonbinding, it is of great symbolic meaning in urging Japan to face its crimes committed during World War II, said Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China.

    "It will add public pressure on Japan. Japan deeply relies on US power to compete with China in the region, so the passing of the document no doubt worries Japan," Jin said.

    "Many Japanese politicians have gone to the US lately to win understanding from the US government. That shows Japan has already felt great political pressure," he added.

    Continuing efforts by China and the ROK to reveal Japan's crimes to the world also helped the US to realize the seriousness of the problem, Lyu added.

    US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel expressed regret at worsened China-Japan ties and Japan-ROK ties at a news briefing during his visit to Brussels on Tuesday.

    The US calls on all parties to remain calm and exercise restraint, he said.

    Contact the writers at zhouwa@chinadaily.com.cn

    Xinhua contributed to this story.

     US House links spending bill to 'comfort women'

    Participants carry the portraits of Korean women who were forced to be sex slaves by the Japanese military during World War II at a requiem ceremony for former "comfort woman" Lee Yong-nyeo in central Seoul in August. Lee, who was one of the few surviving sex slaves, or comfort women, for wartime Japanese soldiers, died on Aug 11. Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters

    (China Daily 01/17/2014 page10)

    Today's Top News

    Editor's picks

    Most Viewed

    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    精品人妻大屁股白浆无码 | 国产成人无码AV麻豆| 日韩精品中文字幕无码一区| 亚洲中文字幕无码不卡电影 | HEYZO无码综合国产精品227| 无码精品国产dvd在线观看9久| 成在线人AV免费无码高潮喷水| 亚洲国产精品无码中文字| 暖暖免费中文在线日本| 五月婷婷无码观看| 精品亚洲A∨无码一区二区三区 | 免费无码又爽又刺激网站直播| 中文无码久久精品| 69天堂人成无码麻豆免费视频| 亚洲中文字幕无码爆乳AV| 婷婷五月六月激情综合色中文字幕| 国偷自产短视频中文版| 久久久久亚洲av成人无码电影| 无码中文av有码中文a| 人妻无码αv中文字幕久久琪琪布| 无码精品A∨在线观看中文| 久99久无码精品视频免费播放| 久久精品国产亚洲AV无码偷窥| 无码AV片在线观看免费| 中文午夜乱理片无码| 中文字幕无码高清晰 | 无码专区中文字幕无码| 人妻无码αv中文字幕久久琪琪布| 韩国三级中文字幕hd久久精品| 日韩中文字幕在线播放| 日韩欧美群交P片內射中文| 亚洲VA中文字幕不卡无码| 亚洲中文字幕日产乱码高清app| 最近中文字幕在线中文高清版| 亚洲av无码成人精品区在线播放 | 日韩少妇无码喷潮系列一二三| 丰满熟妇人妻Av无码区| 久久亚洲精品无码观看不卡| 小泽玛丽无码视频一区 | 最近中文字幕mv免费高清在线 | 久久午夜无码鲁丝片秋霞|