Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was greeted by protesters in Los Angeles before his weeklong U.S. visit ended on Friday.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Los Angeles to protest against Abe for what they believe was his failure to apologize over the "comfort women" issue and other war crimes in World War II during his visit.
The protesters, mostly Korean and Chinese-American, held up posters and signs and chanted outside the hotel where Abe was staying, demanding an apology from him, the Kyodo News reported Saturday.
The protest came following Abe's speech at Harvard University, where he said Japan must not avert its eyes from the suffering of Asian people from its wartime behavior, but made no mention of "comfort women."
Young Kim, a state assemblywoman representing several cities in Southern California's Orange County and the only Korean-American legislator currently serving in California, said the speech "would have been a great opportunity to extend [Abe's] sincere apology on behalf of the Japanese government, but he didn't," according to Kyodo News.
"He only touched the surface of the issue, and it's a missed opportunity for Abe to right this historical wrong," she added.
Jin Canrong, an expert at Renmin University, told the Global Times that Abe's speech which only responded to the historical issues of U.S. concern, but ignoring the needs of its war crime victims China and Korea is indeed an act of utilitarianism or even "racism."
He added that the visit shows that the U.S. mainstream including Congress was conniving with Japan on historical issues, and this will make Abe more daring on the matter in the future. He said he believes Abe will continue to express a similar political attitude in the upcoming 70th anniversary of the Tokyo firebombing on August 15.
