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Reflection on the Sharp Contrast between Europe and Asia on Postwar Reconciliation


Chen Xiangyang The year 2015 marks the 70th Anniversary of Victory of World Anti-Fascist War and Chinese People’s Resistance against Japanese Aggression. The occasion reminds people to draw lessons from WWII, and the sharp contrast between Europe and Asia on postwar reconciliation calls for deep reflection. People must keep a vigilant watch on the right-wing tendency of Japan. Much still needs to be done to maintain peace in the world. Sharp Contrast and Its Causes Firstly, Europe achieved relatively thorough reconciliation, which can be attributed to a number of factors as follows: 1. The Allies totally settled scores with German and Italian Fascists. German war criminals were severely punished through the Nuremberg Trials. The United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and France occupied Germany and later established West Germany and East Germany. They carried out complete reform in Germany to transform its political and economic systems into democratic and peaceful ones, so that the latter can correct its wrongs and turn on a new leaf. It was on such a basis that the victorious and the vanquished countries were able to realize real reconciliation. 2. West and East Germanies had in-depth introspection about Fascism and their war crimes and tried to prevent resurgence of Fascism through a series of strict legislation, which covered areas such as history education, news and media, films, television and entertainment to prohibit or at least restrict any erroneous ideas. Willy Brandt, the Chancellor of West Germany, knelt down to repent the genocide of Jews by Nazi regime in WWII during his visit to Poland. After the German reunification in 1990, the new Germany committed to becoming “the Germany of Europe”, rather than seeking “German’s Europe”. 3. The Post-war Europe made successful exploration to achieve strength and progress through unity. The long-time enemy— France and Germany achieved historic reconciliation, then jointly launched and drove forward the process of “European Community” to mold it into today’s “European Union” with its common currency “Euro”. The great alliance and unity in Europe not only effectively resolved the contradiction among countries to prevent the war from happening again, but also shaped the collective identity and common understanding of Europeans as members of one community. It weakened European countries’ awareness of “nation states” and nationalism, and diluted traditional confrontation. Secondly, the interplay of internal and external factors leads to the failure of reconciliation and even deepening rancour in post-war Asia. These factors include the following: 1. The international community failed to address the Japanese militarism thoroughly and timely, to which the U.S. shall bear major responsibility. After the war, the U.S. occupied Japan alone and chaired the process to draw up the Peace Constitution. However, it tolerated the war crime of the Emperor and turned to support Japan for its own interests in the Cold War against Soviet Union and New China. It let many Japanese war criminals off lightly, concluded separate peace with Japan in the Treaty of San Francisco, and even took the liberty to give part of Chinese territory—the Diaoyu Islands to Japanese authorities. 2. japan is unwilling to admit its defeat and crimes. Relying on its alliance with the U.S., the current Shinzo Abe Administration goes against the trend of times and is very reluctant to apologize for Japanese history of invasion, an action which repeatedly provokes its neighbors—China and ROK. Abe delivered a so-called “talk” on August 14 on the eve of the 70th Anniversary of the surrender of Japan, which included words admitting Japan’s action in WWII as “aggression” and “colonial rule”, but he stopped short of expressing “apology” as in the statement by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the war. Abe even boasted that his “talk” showed “Japan’s process of becoming a peaceful country and its international contribution”. Japan is not only beating around the bush, but obviously showing a regressing position, which will indefinitely postpone the reconciliation between itself with China and ROK respectively. 3. The Obama government is pursuing the strategy of “rebalancing to Asia-Pacific” in an attempt to contain China and maintain its dominance in the region. It tries to use and “cultivate” Japan by strengthening their alliance, playing down the WWII history, ignoring Japan’s war crimes, and publicly supporting Japan in amending Peace Constitution and expanding its military power. Four Lessons Drawn from the Contrast 1. Correct education and view of history help to reach reconciliation. Historical education in defeated countries of WWII must be oriented to the public, especially the young people. It must give a true account of history, and clarify rights and wrongs. The defeated must be brave to face the crime its nation committed, shoulder moral and financial responsibilities, rather than using evasive and equivocal words to hide its wrong-doing, or even speaking with its tongue in its cheek or burying its head in the sand. In the meantime, it should restrain resurgence and rampant spread of erroneous trend of thought. On this issue, there is a world of difference between how Germany and Japan acted after the War. 2. The invaders and the victims should constantly enhance mutual trust. The former should make joint efforts with the latter, instead of moving backward or in other direction. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of WWII, the Japanese authorities still stand on the opposite side against China and ROK in understanding of either history or disputes at present. Under such circumstances mutual trust is out of the question. 3. A strong regional multi-lateral mechanism is conducive to promoting reconciliation. To some extent, regional cooperative organizations can restrain member states and cultivate their awareness of “community of common interests and destiny”. In absence of a strong multi-lateral mechanism, Asia needs to learn from Europe which has valuable experience in this regard. 4. To achieve reconciliation, relevant countries need to remain independent and resist interference from powers outside the region. The U.S. tends to manipulate regional situation by making use of tension between countries in the region, but it is more difficult to do so in Europe than in Asia, because major countries in EU such as France and Germany are committed to European integration, while Japan tries to contend with China and seek to be the dominant power in East Asia by strengthening the Japanese-American Alliance and siding with the U.S.. Reflection on How to Prevent Tragedies Like WWII Firstly, the international community must firmly maintain correct view of WWII history and jointly resist Abe Administration’s right-wing tendency. When it comes to war crimes such as “comfort women”, Abe either refuses to admit the fact or speaks insincerely. His tenacious move to promote Security Bill which changes postwar Japan’s peaceful path not only backfires at home but also causes unease of its neighbors. China must carry out a new “protracted war” to contain Japanese rightist ambition by constantly strengthening ourselves, actively fighting for a say in history and moral high ground, and uniting relevant countries to counter Japan’s dubious moves. Secondly, the U.S. should be accountable for Japan’s erroneous view of history, and more importantly, be wary of eating Japan’s rightist bitter fruit. After WWII the U.S. used Japan to serve its cold war strategy against Soviet Union and New China and let Japan off lightly on its war crimes. As a result, Japan has sunk deeper and deeper in its wrong view of history and consequently lost control. Now the U.S. indulges Abe to pursue his right-wing policy, thinking that it can use Japan to contend with China, but only to be used by Abe instead to realize Japan’s aim of becoming a so-called “normal country”— as a matter of fact an ambition to be a major power and to challenge American domination. 3. The international community should be committed to maintaining and prudently reforming “postwar order”. This year also marks the 70th birthday of the United Nation. Since the UN is the core of the “postwar order”, the authority of the organization and its security council must be strengthened. （The author is the Deputy Director and Researcher with the Institute of World Political Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations）