BEIJING – U.S President Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima has generally been welcomed in Japan, but it is drawing different reactions in China, where many suffered under Japanese occupation in World War II.
“The suffering of Japanese people who were innocent does deserve our sympathy,” said Hong Lei, a foreign ministry spokesperson at a press conference in Beijing on May 19.
But Beijing’s main message was to emphasise that China was the real victim and to urge others not to forget that Japan was the aggressor.
“We hope that by inviting leaders or political figures of other countries to visit Hiroshima, Japan is telling the world that it will never tread on the path of militarism again, as it once brought unspeakable suffering to its people and people of Asia,” said Hong.
Over 70 years have passed since the end of the war, but there still exists a wide gap on the interpretation and handling of pre-1945 history between China and Japan. Time after time, Beijing has reminded Tokyo about this and kept it as a powerful diplomatic card.
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