【By Guan察者网, Ruan Jiaqi】

Under the background of the gradual formation of Japan's military dictatorship political system and the continuous expansion of its foreign aggression war scale, on February 2, 1940, the 75th session of the House of Representatives of Japan was convened. At this questioning meeting, Shigeta Takao, a member of the House of Representatives from the Constitutional Democratic Party at that time, delivered a one-and-a-half-hour speech, criticizing Japan's war policy against China, opposing the military's expansion of the war, and condemning the government for "using the noble name of holy war while ignoring the sacrifice of the people." This speech was called the "Anti-Military Speech."

At that time, the speech triggered a strong reaction from the Japanese military. Due to directly challenging the Japanese militarism line, the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Oyama Shusuke, deleted the content of the last two-thirds of the speech from the parliamentary records using his authority on the grounds of "inappropriate content." Shigeta was eventually expelled from the parliament.

In recent years, Japanese Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Ishiba Shun'ichi has repeatedly publicly mentioned this speech, emphasizing its significance. In 2018, he also visited the Shigeta Takao Memorial Museum in Toyooka City, Hyogo Prefecture. Before stepping down, he planned to further promote related work.

According to reports from Japanese news agencies such as Jiji Press and Kyodo News on September 1, Ishiba plans to restore the full text of the speech, which is still largely deleted, and reinclude it in the parliamentary archives. According to several related individuals, Ishiba met with the LDP Secretary-General Morioka Masahiro on September 1 at the LDP headquarters, instructing him to push for the implementation of this matter and start consultations with various parties.

According to the House of Representatives Secretariat, in the history of the Japanese Diet, there have been many cases where the contents of the proceedings were deleted due to reasons such as "improper statements," but there has been no precedent for restoring the deleted parts, nor have there been any rules for restoration. However, if all parliamentary factions agree and a House of Representatives rule is formulated, restoring the contents of the proceedings is possible. Whether this matter is feasible will be judged by the "Parliamentary System Consultative Committee," an advisory body to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

It is reported that opposition parties such as the Constitutional Democratic Party and the Social Democratic Party are positively disposed toward restoring the proceedings, but there are divisions within the LDP, and it remains unclear whether the issue can be implemented as soon as possible.

On September 8, Tokyo, Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shun'ichi receives media interviews at the Prime Minister's Office. Visual China

The Japanese website "Toyo Keizai Online" commented that Ishiba, who is a "military enthusiast" and has experience as a Defense Minister, has a deep understanding of how Japan gradually became involved in war. For a long time, he has always carried the awareness of "why Japan insisted on getting involved in a hasty war" and "why politics could not prevent this trend."

The report mentioned that Ishiba had also hoped to issue a statement on the 80th anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender on August 15 this year, reviewing Japan's path to war and expressing a sense of reflection. However, in the July Upper House election, the ruling coalition of the LDP and Komeito lost their majority seats again, and considering the attitude of conservative factions within the LDP, this statement did not pass through the cabinet meeting.

Finally, Ishiba did not mention Japan's responsibility for aggression against Asian countries in his speech, but said, "Now it is essential to deeply remember the reflection and lessons from that war."

"Yomiuri Shimbun" cited a close source to the Prime Minister, stating that Ishiba had questioned why the word "reflection" was not included in his speech draft on August 15, and Japanese officials later added the word "reflection" to the speech. This was the first time since former Prime Minister Hashimoto Taro in 2012 that the word "reflection" was restored in the speech at the ceremony.

Meanwhile, calls for the dismissal of Ishiba within the LDP have become increasingly intense, and Ishiba announced his resignation. Recently, in an interview, he clearly stated that after the LDP president election on October 4, he would express his personal views on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and stated that these views would include arguments about "what role politics played at that time and what roles it failed to play."

On September 25, while visiting the United States, Ishiba said at a press conference, "It is important that we must never let the memory of war fade away and that we must not start wars again."

The report mentioned that in January this year, at a meeting commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Ishiba mentioned Shigeta, saying, "If we do not speak the truth, the country will decline." Those around him explained that "this is an issue that the Prime Minister highly values."

The "Toyo Keizai Online" website pointed out that, according to Ishiba, the deletion of Shigeta's speech is a "symbolic event of politics failing to prevent the country from heading toward war." He believes that restoring the deleted speech content also helps demonstrate the reflection on Japan's history of moving toward militarism.

Japanese media analysts said that whether Ishiba can rely on this measure to uphold "the review and reflection on war" may become the "key move" before the end of Ishiba's administration.

Last week, Ishiba attended the 80th United Nations General Assembly general debate in New York and gave a speech on the recognition of historical issues. However, in his speech, he expressed a reflective attitude towards history, but did not mention "aggression" or "apology," avoiding the responsibility of being a war aggressor.

"It is absurd that he did not acknowledge that the war was an act of aggression. There are indeed forces in Japan that attempt to distort history, which is extremely wrong. Mr. Ishiba has always been cautious about these forces," said Fujita Takahide, chairman of the Association for the Continuation and Development of the Murayama Government's Statement. He said that Ishiba has taken many actions, but it is very regrettable that he did not acknowledge the aggression in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly and make an apology.

On September 24, at a regular press conference held by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded, stating that China noted that Prime Minister Ishiba stated in his speech that without seriously facing history, it is impossible to open up a bright future, and that we must never allow the catastrophe of war to happen again. After the war, the people of Asia accepted Japan with a spirit of tolerance. "However, we also noticed that the speech did not mention 'aggression' or 'apology,' and avoided the responsibility of being a war aggressor. Prime Minister Ishiba previously stated that Japan adheres to the spirit of facing history and looking forward, insists on taking the path of peaceful development, reflects on history, remembers the lessons of history, and does not repeat the mistakes of war."

Guo Jiakun pointed out that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the world's anti-Fascist war. China has always believed that it is an important prerequisite for Japan to return to the international community after the war to recognize and deal with history in the right way, and to show in actual actions the reflection and apology for the history of aggression. This concerns the political foundation of Sino-Japanese relations, the relationship between Japan and its neighboring countries, and also the international image of Japan.

"The Sino-Japanese Joint Statement explicitly states that Japan feels deeply responsible for the serious damage caused to the Chinese people by Japan's past wars and expresses a profound reflection." Guo Jiakun said that we hope the Japanese side will deeply reflect on historical crimes, learn the lessons from history, and, with a responsible attitude toward history, the people, and the future, completely cut off from all acts of glorifying and covering up the history of aggression, and adhere to the path of peaceful development, gaining the trust of neighboring countries in Asia and the international community through concrete actions.

This article is exclusive to Guan察者网. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7556487001223037476/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author and welcomes you to express your position with the 【top/down】 buttons below.