钟声
By Zhong Sheng
1945年8月15日，日本宣布无条件投降，世界反法西斯战争取得最终胜利。日本军国主义犯下的滔天罪行，给亚洲各国人民带来深重灾难，是对生命和人权的粗暴践踏，也是对人类文明的严重挑战。日本本应深刻反省侵略历史，以实际行动取信于亚洲邻国和国际社会。然而，77年后的今天，日本却频频在历史问题上开倒车，加紧推进自身军事松绑，极力拉拢域外国家在地区搞对抗……种种错误做法悖逆历史正义，损害亚太和平稳定，引起地区国家和国际社会和平力量的高度警惕。
The world claimed the final victory in the Anti-Fascist War on August 15, 1945, as Japan announced its unconditional surrender. The Japanese militarists’ unprintable atrocities have plunged the peoples of all Asian countries into an abyss of misery. They trampled roughshod upon life and human rights and posed a dire challenge to human civilization. Japan should have reflected deeply on its own history of aggression and tried to regain trust from its Asian neighbors and the international community with concrete actions. Yet, 77 years after its defeat and surrender, Japan is constantly back-pedaling on historical issues, ratcheting up efforts to break through the restrictions upon its military capacity, and trying hard to gang up with out-of-region countries to stir up confrontation in the Asia Pacific…Japan’s wrongdoings that go against historical trends and justice and undermine regional peace and stability have put regional countries and peaceful forces in the world on high alert.
正视历史、反省罪责，是战后日本实现自我救赎、回归国际社会的前提条件。然而，77年来，日本始终没有真正做到这一点，日本右翼势力从未停止对历史公论、国际正义的挑战。近年来，日本国内政治生态发生新变化，为军国主义侵略史翻案之风愈演愈烈。日本政治人物频频参拜供奉有二战甲级战犯的靖国神社，淡化南京大屠杀罪行，否认强征慰安妇，并公然质疑挑战《开罗宣言》《波茨坦公告》和东京审判，不断在钓鱼岛等问题上制造事端……日本掩盖、否认甚至美化侵略历史，是对世界反法西斯战争胜利成果和战后国际秩序的严重挑衅。
Facing up to history and reflecting on its war crimes is the precondition if Japan wants to redeem itself and return to the international community after WWII. However, instead of doing that, Japanese right-wingers have kept challenging internationally accepted and just conclusions on historical issuesin the past 77 years, and the new changes in Japan’s domestic political atmosphere in recent years have further fueled its ambition to deny and whitewash its militarist history of aggression. Japanese politicians have visited the Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals are enshrined, one after another, played down the Nanjing Massacre, denied their “comfort women” crime, publicly questioned and challenged the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation, and Tokyo Trial, and constantly made trouble on the Diaoyu Islands and other issues, to name a few. Japan’s cover-up, denial and even varnishing of its aggressive history is a severe provocation to the hard-earned victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and the post-WWII international order.
日本右翼势力热衷于篡改历史，根本目的是摆脱战后国际秩序的束缚，再度实现军事扩张。日本大肆炒作邻国“威胁”，主动勾连域外大国，企图在亚太地区制造割裂、挑起对抗。在恶意渲染地区局势紧张的同时，日本松绑安保政策的步子也越迈越大。加快推动修改和平宪法议程，修改武器出口三原则，强行通过新安保法，解禁集体自卫权，通过新版《防卫计划大纲》和《中期防卫力整备计划》，不断增加防卫经费，发展所谓“反击能力”……日本在背离专守防卫的路上越走越远，不断释放出否定战后和平发展道路的危险信号，成为亚太地区和平稳定面临的严重风险隐患。
Japanese right-wing forces are so eager to tamper with history because they want to shake off the fetters imposed upon Japan by the post-WWII international order and once again embark on the road of military expansion. Japan is hyping up the “threats” from neighboring countries and proactively colluding with out-of-region major countries in the endeavor to divide up Asia Pacific and stir up the confrontation. While maliciously exaggerating regional tension, it is also taking bigger steps to relax the security policy. Tokyo has sped up the process to revise the Peace Constitution, revised the three principles on weapon export, rammed through the new security bill, lifted the ban on collective self-defense, passed the new National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG) and Medium-Term Defense Program (MTDP), continuously increased the defense budget, and developed the so-called “counterattack capability”. The list goes on. As it is drifting ever farther away from the road of exclusive defense capacity, Japan is releasing the dangerous signal of denying the post-WWII road of peaceful development and has become a serious risk threatening peace and stability in the Asian Pacific region.
日本在台湾问题上的高调表演，进一步暴露其险恶用心。日本曾非法侵占并在台湾实行长达半个世纪的殖民统治，杀害60多万台湾同胞，犯下罄竹难书的罪行。日方本应认真反省侵略历史，恪守中日四个政治文件原则和所作承诺，在台湾问题上谨言慎行。然而，一段时间以来，日本在台湾问题上的消极动向频繁集中，一些政治势力声称“台湾有事就是日本有事”。日本政府不久前发布2022年版《防卫白皮书》，罔顾事实渲染所谓大陆对台“军事威胁”，妄称“台湾局势对日本安全及国际稳定十分重要”。上述行为严重违反国际关系基本准则，违背日方在台湾问题上向中方作出的严肃承诺，损害中日关系政治基础。日本这种为虎作伥的恶劣做法，包藏搞乱台海、搞乱亚太、从中渔利的险恶用心。
Japan’s high-profile stunt on the Taiwan question has further revealed its sinister intention. It illegally overran the Taiwan island and put it under colonial rule for half a century, during which Japanese soldiers killed more than 600,000 Taiwan compatriots, one more unspeakable crime to add to the pile of Japan’s ferocities. The Japanese side should have done some serious self-examination and soul-searching about its aggressive history, abided by the principles of the four China-Japan political documents and its own commitments, and carefully watched its words and deeds on the Taiwan question. On the contrary, it has taken a series of passive moves on this point. Some political forces in Japan even clamored “a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency”. The white paper Defense of Japan 2022 recently issued by the Japanese government played up the “military threats” from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan island and claimed, “the situation in Taiwan is of great importance for Japan’s security and international stability”. Japan’s misconducts have seriously violated the basic norms governing international relations, breached its solemn commitments to China on the Taiwan question, and jeopardized the political foundation for bilateral relations. By pouring fuel on flames, Japan’s evil intention of wreaking havoc in the Taiwan Strait and Asia Pacific and then fishing in troubled waters is laid bare under broad daylight.
开历史倒车者，必将走入歧途。日本只有迷途知返，深刻反省历史罪责、汲取历史教训，尊重亚洲邻国安全关切，坚持走和平发展道路，才能在地区发展中找到自身的位置。继续执迷于逆时代潮流而动，日本最终只会自食恶果。
Those who back-pedal on history will only drive into a dead end. The only way for Japan to find its right place in regional development is to face up to its mistakes, own up to its past crimes, learn lessons from history, respect the security concerns of its Asian neighbors, and stick to the road of peaceful development. If it is bent on going against the trend of the times, Japan will eventually fret in its own grease.
Editor's note: This article is originally published on people.com.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
