Lee Yoo-soo, who testified to Congress in 2007 about her traumatic experience as one of the thousands of 'comfort women' victims during the invasion of Japan in World War II, appears at the rally organized by the Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues (WCCW) in Washington on Tuesday, demanding an official apology. Liu Xiaoxian / For China Daily.
Jungsil Lee had four demands: Abe should acknowledge and apologize for the war atrocities; Japan should educate its people about the historical truths; Japan should not attempt to rescind Article 9 of its Peace Constitution; and everyone should not disregard the HR121 Resolution.
HR121, proclaimed in 2007 at a joint session of Congress, condemned the Japanese military's sex slavery.
"If they don't take responsibility, this can happen again!"said Brian Becker, executive director of ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism).
Becker told China Daily that Japan is moving toward an increasingly nationalistic and militaristic orientation, and the reason Abe is refusing to apologize is because Japan is backed by the U.S.. He called on the U.S. not to support Japan in a military alliance.
"As Americans, we want to say to our government, when you emphasize militarism, that might be good for the military industry, but American people don't want another conflict in Asia or anywhere else,"he said.
Congressman Mike Honda, Democrat of California, sent a letter on April 23 to the Japanese ambassador to the United States urging Abe to "lay the foundation for healing and humble reconciliation by addressing the historical issues"during his visit to Washington.
The letter was co-signed by 24 members of the House, including Ed Royce, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Peter Roskam, who served as the chief deputy whip for the Republican Party.
In San Francisco, Shiu Lin Kuo, 83, finally made it to the building housing the Japanese Consulate General downtown after a bus ride and long walk, where more than 500 people were protesting along the street holding signs and chanting "No apology, no peace".
The Japanese consulate had no comment.
Kuo insisted on coming to the demonstration in the Financial District, where he had never been before, despite his family's dissuasion.
"We do not demand life for life. But they should at least apologize for what they did,"said Kuo, referring to the massacres and other atrocities the Japanese Army inflicted on the Chinese people during World War II.
As a witness to the history himself, Kuo said he lost two uncles in the 1940s in Shanghai when he was less than 10 years old.
"I always remember how my relatives were cruelly killed right in front of me,"he said.
