Japan’s PM offers condolences for US victims in Second World War
PRIME minister Shinzo Abe has offered solemn condolences for the Americans who died in the Second World War as he became the first Japanese leader to address a joint meeting of Congress.
“My dear friends, on behalf of Japan and the Japanese people, I offer with profound respect my eternal condolences to the souls of all American people that were lost during the Second World War,” Mr Abe said.
But, as he did at a news conference the previous day with US president Barack Obama, Mr Abe stopped short of offering an apology for Japanese conduct during the war, including sexual enslave- ment of tens of thousands of Asian women by Japan’s imperial army.
South Korea and a number of US politicians have sought such an apology, but Mr Abe did not offer one, even while acknowledging t h at Japan’s “actions brought suffering to the peoples in Asian countries”.
He described visiting the Second World War memorial on the National Mall, and reflecting upon the 400,000 American war dead “with deep repentance in my heart”.
“What is done cannot be undone,” Mr Abe said.
But he hailed the alliance that rose from the ashes of the war as one that will “enhance the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region”.
He also sought support for a 12-nation trans-Pacific trade pact that has divided Congress, telling politicians it should be completed “for the sake of our children and our children’s children”.
Mr Abe said: “Enemies that had fought each other so fiercely have become friends bonded in spirit.”
“What should we call this, if not a miracle of history?” he asked.
After an Oval Office meeting with Mr Abe, where the two leaders declared progress in bilateral trade talks that are critical for completing a wider TPP agreement among nations accounting for 40 per cent of global gross domestic product, Mr Obama conceded: “It’s never fun passing a trade bill in this town.”
Mr Abe told politicians the Pacific trade deal is about spreading the shared values of rule of law, democracy and freedom.
“It is also about our security. Long-term, its strategic value is awesome. We should never forget that,” he said.