Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said the use of so-called "comfort women"
was "one of the serious crimes committed by the Japanese militarists during the
second World War."
"This is a historical fact," Li Zhaoxing said at a press conference during
China's annual legislative session. The Japanese government "should stand up to
this part of history, take responsibility and seriously view and properly
handle this issue," he said.
Li's remarks were the first official Chinese reaction to Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe's disavowal last week of his country's responsibility for
forcing Asian women into military brothels for Japanese troops during the war,
saying there was "no evidence to prove there was coercion."
Prominent Japanese scholars and politicians routinely deny direct military
involvement or the use of force in rounding up the women, blaming private
contractors for any abuses.
Abe's statement triggered international outrage and contradicted evidence in
Japanese documents unearthed in 1992 that historians said showed military
authorities worked with contractors to procure about 200,000 women, mostly from
Korea and China and Japan ¡X in many cases, by force - for the brothels.
The remark also cast doubt on a 1993 Japanese government apology to the sex
slaves issued by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono.
Kono's 1993 statement also acknowledged that many women were forced into
prostitution, and that the military government was involved in some cases.
The government followed up in 1995 by setting up a fund to meet victims'
compensation demands. But the fund, which is due to expire on March 31, is
based on private donations and has been attacked as a government ruse to avoid
owning up to the abuse.
Last month, US lawmakers introduced a nonbinding resolution urging Japan to
apologize formally. Japan objected to the resolution, and said its leaders have
apologized repeatedly.
On Monday, Abe remained firm on his stance that Tokyo should not issue another
apology, telling Japan's parliament that none of the testimony in hearings by
the U.S. House of Representatives offered any solid proof of abuse.
"We will not apologize even if there's a resolution," Abe told lawmakers.
The latest development is likely to hinder efforts to smooth over relations
between China and Japan, which had been improving following a fence-mending
visit to Beijing in October by Abe ¡X the first top-level summit between the
two powers in five years.
The countries also have held strategic talks in Beijing aimed at warming
relations and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is scheduled to visit Tokyo in April.
Li said Wen's visit to Japan was important as this year marks the 35th
anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
"Lasting friendship between the peoples of China and Japan is the path we
should stay firmly on and no one can stop us from doing this," Li said.
Even so, tensions remain over festering territorial disputes and
interpretations of wartime history.
"History, in my view, is a strong progressive force," Li said. "It should not
become a burden to the progression of peace."
