CRI听力:Japanese scholars: Abe should visit Nanjing rather than Pearl Harbor

The public gathering was held just days after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his plans to visit Pearl Harbor later this month to remember the thousands killed by Japan's surprise attack on the US naval base 75 years ago. The attack prompted the United States to enter the Second World War.

Hattori Ryoichi, a former member of the House of Representatives, said the visit only aims to showcase Abe's allegiance to the United States and reaffirm the country's commitment to the bilateral alliance.

He described it as nothing but a political show.

"Through the visit to Pearl Harbor, Abe makes a pose that he would reflect on the history. But in fact, he just wants to send a signal to enhance the Japan-US alliance. He goes to Hawaii without an apology, just like President Barack Obama went to Hiroshima without an apology, either. We don't need such a political show."

The Japanese government has been blamed by its neighbors for adopting double standards and lacking sincerity when facing the country's history of aggression.

Takakage Fujita heads an association which supports carrying forward with the Murayama Statement.

Issued in 1995, the statement acknowledged for the first time Japan's colonization and aggression in parts of Asia during the 2nd world war.

Takakage warned that right-wing views held by people such as Abe would hamper a reconciliation between Japan and its neighbors.

He said Japan should face up to its history, and the right places for the leader to do that in earnest, are in China.

"How many people in Nanjing were massacred by Japanese troops? How many people died during the human experiments and biological warfare conducted by Unit 731. The Japanese government has refused to acknowledge these atrocities the country's troops had committed during the war. It's a behavior indeed desecrating history."

According to Chinese official figures, in the fight against Japanese invaders, more than 35 million Chinese people either died or were injured. The total economic losses China suffered are estimated at 600 billion U.S. dollars.

During the six-week long massacre in Nanjing, more than 300,000 unarmed Chinese soldiers and civilians were killed.

From 1939 to 1945, at Least 3,000 people alone succumbed at a base belonging to the Japanese army's Unit 731 in northeastern China's Harbin, and more than 300,000 people perished due to biological weapons created by the unit.

At the gathering, Takakage also suggested the Japanese government establish museums to expose the country's aggressive past.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.