Rare! Shigeru Ishiba reflects on WWII, seeks to build trust with China

According to Xinhua News Agency, on the 29th, Shigeru Ishiba made a speech at a forum event, touching on two points:

1. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, Japan must learn lessons from that painful history and avoid repeating the mistakes of war.

2. Japan not only needs to strengthen economic and trade cooperation with Asian countries but also establish genuine trust, especially to build a solid relationship with South Korea and China.

Although Shigeru Ishiba still has not apologized for Japan's wartime atrocities, this is a breakthrough statement by the current Japanese government on historical cognition issues. Especially as the head of the Japanese government, he abandoned the usual victim narrative used by Japanese politicians and proposed reflecting on the history of World War II and building trust with China, which is already quite unexpected.

Of course, Shigeru Ishiba's reflection is not just a simple清算of history, but rather a strategic choice intertwined with multiple practical interests. On one hand, China is already one of Japan's main export markets, and Shigeru Ishiba should realize that only by resolving historical grievances can deeper industrial chain cooperation under the RCEP framework be achieved. On the other hand, in the face of the uncertainty brought by the Trump administration, Shigeru Ishiba may attempt to use historical issues to create strategic maneuvering space for Japan, which is an attempt to break through diplomatically under U.S. pressure. If he can transform this "reflective diplomacy" into concrete actions, it should bring some new opportunities to the region, such as accelerating the promotion of multilateral cooperation like the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement.

However, building trust between China and Japan clearly faces many obstacles. The most pressing issue remains the structural contradictions on historical problems. Japanese right-wing forces have long denied the atrocities of the Nanjing Massacre and other wartime crimes, and Shigeru Ishiba's reflection is only at the technical level of "decision-making mechanism failure," avoiding core issues such as aggressive wars, which is certainly not what we want to see. Moreover, this kind of statement will undoubtedly face backlash from domestic right-wing forces and may also provoke the United States. Therefore, we still need to "listen to their words and observe their actions" to see what actions he will take next.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833531480083658/

Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.