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Chinese media cast wary eye on Korea-Japan deal on wartime sex slaves
By KH디지털2Published : Dec. 29, 2015 - 13:29
A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party on Tuesday took a wary and skeptic note on a landmark deal between South Korea and Japan on the issue of Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, insisting that the deal will have "little influence" in Northeast Asia.
Both South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said their bilateral relations entered a new era with the Monday deal. The United States praised the deal on the issue that has seriously plagued relations between the two key American allies for years.
The deal was in line with diplomatic efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama to form a united front with South Korea and Japan against China's increasingly assertive behaviors and North Korea's defiant pursuit of missile and nuclear programs.
The issue of Korean victims, euphemistically called "comfort women," by the Japanese military during World War II has long been a thorn in diplomatic ties between Seoul and Tokyo as Japan's conservative politicians have not done enough to resolve the long-standing grievance regarding the Korean victims.
In an editorial titled "Comfort women deal will not aid Tokyo," the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper stopped short of welcoming the deal.
"The comfort women deal has little influence on Northeast Asia.
Japan's easing of tensions with South Korea doesn't mean it will gain more leverage in dealing with China," it said.
According to historians, up to 200,000 women, mostly Korean, but other Asian women, including Chinese, were coerced into sexual servitude at front-line Japanese brothels during World War II.
"As the victim, China has been taking the initiative to resist Japan's denials of its history of aggression. South Korea is not a key factor in the Sino-Japanese relationship," the editorial said.
Some Chinese analysts were also skeptical about the deal between South Korea and Japan.
Wang Shaojin, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the deal is unlikely to help South Korea and Japan fully resolve history-related issues.
"The key point is whether Japan can face up to its history," Wang said.
Su Zhiliang, a professor at Shanghai Normal University who is conducting research into Japan's wartime sex slavery, welcomed the deal, but it remains to be seen whether the Japanese prime minister's apology to the Korean victims is sincere or not.
Under the Monday deal, Abe apologized to the Korean victims and Tokyo provided a 1 billion-yen ($8.3 million) fund for the victims. In return, South Korea will refrain from criticizing Japan over the issue.
Still, critics in South Korea say questions remain whether Japan legally admitted its "responsibilities" over the issue.
Japan had previously refused to resolve the grievance of the Korean victims, insisting that the issue was settled under a 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral ties. (Yonhap)
Both South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said their bilateral relations entered a new era with the Monday deal. The United States praised the deal on the issue that has seriously plagued relations between the two key American allies for years.
The deal was in line with diplomatic efforts by U.S. President Barack Obama to form a united front with South Korea and Japan against China's increasingly assertive behaviors and North Korea's defiant pursuit of missile and nuclear programs.
The issue of Korean victims, euphemistically called "comfort women," by the Japanese military during World War II has long been a thorn in diplomatic ties between Seoul and Tokyo as Japan's conservative politicians have not done enough to resolve the long-standing grievance regarding the Korean victims.
In an editorial titled "Comfort women deal will not aid Tokyo," the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper stopped short of welcoming the deal.
"The comfort women deal has little influence on Northeast Asia.
Japan's easing of tensions with South Korea doesn't mean it will gain more leverage in dealing with China," it said.
According to historians, up to 200,000 women, mostly Korean, but other Asian women, including Chinese, were coerced into sexual servitude at front-line Japanese brothels during World War II.
"As the victim, China has been taking the initiative to resist Japan's denials of its history of aggression. South Korea is not a key factor in the Sino-Japanese relationship," the editorial said.
Some Chinese analysts were also skeptical about the deal between South Korea and Japan.
Wang Shaojin, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said the deal is unlikely to help South Korea and Japan fully resolve history-related issues.
"The key point is whether Japan can face up to its history," Wang said.
Su Zhiliang, a professor at Shanghai Normal University who is conducting research into Japan's wartime sex slavery, welcomed the deal, but it remains to be seen whether the Japanese prime minister's apology to the Korean victims is sincere or not.
Under the Monday deal, Abe apologized to the Korean victims and Tokyo provided a 1 billion-yen ($8.3 million) fund for the victims. In return, South Korea will refrain from criticizing Japan over the issue.
Still, critics in South Korea say questions remain whether Japan legally admitted its "responsibilities" over the issue.
Japan had previously refused to resolve the grievance of the Korean victims, insisting that the issue was settled under a 1965 treaty that normalized bilateral ties. (Yonhap)
