Japanese PM demands no repeat of ASDF chief's issue over Japan's wartime role: DM
4/11/2008 15:39
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has demanded that there be no repeat of
problems caused by the release of a controversial essay on Japan's role in World
War II by sacked Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) chief Toshio Tamogami, Defense
Minster Yasukazu Hamada said today.
At a press conference, Hamada said that
he was instructed by the premier to tighten control over public expressions of
political opinions by Self-Defense Forces (SDF) officers and punish relevant
personnel in the defense ministry and the SDF.
In an essay released Friday,
Tamogami said that it is "false" to accuse Japan of having been an aggressor
nation before and during World War II.
Japan had been drawn into the
Sino-Japanese War by then Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek, who headed the Chinese
Nationalist Party, said the general, referring to Japan as "a victim" in the
essay entitled "Was Japan an Aggressor Nation?"
Japan "is said to have
invaded" the Chinese mainland and the Korean Peninsula in the prewar period,
wrote Tamogami, adding that few people, however, are aware that the Japanese
army "was stationed in these countries on the basis of treaties."
Aso voiced
his disapproval of the essay later Friday. Criticizing Tamogami for his
viewpoints, Aso said that it is "not appropriate" for an ASDF chief to publish
such an essay, even though "in a private capacity."
Xinhua
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