A Grateful China Should Also Pay Respect To Yasukuni Shrine
Huang Wenxiong (Ko Bunyu), commentator
The title of this essay may sound extremely radical and really emotional. But if you read through this essay, you will find that it is in fact very rational and factual.
China has alleged that the Japanese Army was responsible for aggression, massacres, rape, and pillage directed against the Chinese and other Asian peoples, and since the end of the war this is also what people in Japan have generally believed. However, this is not what people in Taiwan think. Rather, most intellectuals knowledgeable of Japan, including Mr. Huang, are of the belief that "Japan did no wrong--Japan's only sin was that it lost the war."
This is because the people of Taiwan were never indoctrinated to the version of history promoted at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. Because of this, the people of Taiwan have lamented that Japan lost the war and had no problem in accepting the historical fact that Japan's true objective in fighting the war was to take back Asia and rid it of the invasive colonial powers.
Mr. Huang states: “Stopping the civil war, famine relief and relief for farmers, preventing China's dismemberment by the great powers... No matter how you look at it, China should be thanking the Japanese rather than criticizing them. Accusing Japan of waging a war of aggression on China is nonsense. Instead China should show gratitude to Japan, a country which was burdened by its foolish neighbor.”