A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry yesterday expressed China's outrage at a Japanese cabinet member who made disparaging remarks about Asian women forced into sexual slavery during World War II.
During a recent public address, Japanese Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister Nariaki Nakayama said he was very moved and excited by an e-mail message from a Japanese woman studying in Canada. The e-mail said "the victimized women in Asia should be proud of being comfort women."
He said he found the message a rare and "encouraging" comment.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao said such comments have hurt the feelings of people in countries victimized by Japan's war of aggression.
"The Japanese government should be held responsible to keep the acts and comments of relevant persons within certain bounds of discipline," Liu said.
He said the act of forcing women to become "comfort women" was one of many serious crimes Japan committed against the people of several Asian countries, including China, during World War II.
Nakayama had repeatedly made offensive comments on the issue of "comfort women." In June, he said there was originally no such phrase as "comfort women," so it was good that the "incorrect" description was removed from school textbooks.
Also yesterday, Liu said China attaches great importance to safeguarding the legitimate rights of Chinese fishermen, including Taiwan fishermen, and urged Japan to handle fishing disputes in accordance with agreements reached between the two countries.
Taiwan fishermen said that they have been repeatedly driven away by Japanese patrol boats in the waters of the Diaoyu Islands, their traditional fishing ground.