Clearly, the ascendance of Abe to power was no accident in that Japan’s militarism was reborn and on the rise, with Abe at its center.
On August 6, 2013, the Self-Defense Forces launched their largest warship with the Hinomaru flag, naming the helicopter carrier Izumo, after a flagship Japan used to invade China.
The self-defense forces have amassed much more than what defense requires, and right-wing politicians have been cracking down on peace-loving progressive factions within Japan.
Looking back, the crisis surrounding the Diaoyu Islands was deliberately facilitated by Japan’s rightist forces and we must stay vigilant against the rise of militarism, especially at a time of economic difficulty in Japan, whose prime minister compared Japan-China tensions to Britain and Germany before World War One, when the two countries went to war despite close trade ties.
In the words of Abe, Japan is pursuing the status of a normal country. In 2004, I received Professor Gerald L. Curtis, of Columbia University, at the PLA National Defence University. He had special feelings for Japan, but nevertheless criticized the so-called normalization. He didn't know what kind of normality Japan was seeking, but Japan would not be normal without the understanding of its neighbors, Curtis said.
History should not be the burden of memory, but should be rational enlightenment, German writer Theodor Lessing once said. The Chinese people have, based on their own experience, chosen peaceful development and we sincerely hope others will make this wise choice too in order to build ever-lasting peace and common prosperity for the world. However, we must not let our guard down against militarism.
