Many express fear about Japan's preparations for going to war without settling its past war crimes

An international symposium was held in September in Shanghai, China, with 200 scholars and citizens attending from Asian countries to demand that Japan accept responsibility for the devastation caused by its war of aggression against Asian countries.

Yoshida Koichi, a member of the Japanese Workers' Committee for Human Rights, commented on the International Symposium on Japanese Responsibilities for its Invasion of Asian countries in Akahata of November 10.

The symposium followed an inaugural meeting of the International Solidarity Council Demanding Settlement of Japan's Past. The two events were carried out on the 72th anniversary of the Liutiaohu incident (September 18), by which Japan started a sudden attack on the Chinese army in the northwestern city of Shenyang. Participants in the symposium included 74 from China, 14 from the U.S.A., and 14 from Japan.

Chinese researchers from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) gave reports on the poison gas and germ bombs which the Japanese Imperial Army had left behind in Qiqihar in Heilongjiang Province and were found last August.

Former wartime "comfort women" who testified are now over 70 years old. They said they were in their early teens when the Japanese Imperial Army used them as sex slaves. They demanded that a bill concerning the victims of wartime sex slavery, submitted by three opposition parties including the Japanese Communist Party, be made into law to facilitate a court settlement.

Many participants expressed a strong sense of crisis concerning Japan preparing for another war without settling the accounts of the past war.

Attorney Tsuchiya Koken, former Japan Federation of Bar Associations president who led the Japanese delegation, called on the Japanese government to show courage in dealing with wartime issues and the compensation issue. (end)