Quest Posted May 9, 2005 at 04:13 AM Report Posted May 9, 2005 at 04:13 AM http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200505090130.html An interesting comparison between the two aggressors in the form of an interview. Quote
wushijiao Posted May 9, 2005 at 09:52 AM Report Posted May 9, 2005 at 09:52 AM Good article. I agree with most of the main points of the author. Here are just a few random thoughts that I have about this: 1) Hasn't Japan paid fairly large sums of money to China as de facto reparations? 2) The author of the article (rightly) focuses on how Germany has treated Poland and the USSR because these are the most analogous to Korea and China. But, one cannot simply cast aside the Holocaust and then compare and contrast. When confronted with the sheer evil and human stupidity of systematic racial annihilation, I think all but the most right-wing German neo-Nazis would feel shame and remorse. I think the sheer embarrassment of confronting the horrors of the Holocaust actually allowed Germans to realize their historic guilt, which then lead to reconciliation and friendship. So, although the Holocaust was perhaps the worst human catastrophe ever, its memory has served a practical purpose, I think. Japan wrought destruction on Asia that was on par with that of Germany. Yet, I don't think the ideology behind it- ultra-nationalism, militarism, and a desire to redress embarrassment at the hands of the West- was quite as morally repulsive as that of the Nazis. Clearly, I'm not trying to defend the war-time ideology, but there are noticable differences. I think, to some degree, the Russian occupation of Eastern Europe and the other countries of the former USSR is really an equally worthy analogy to the compared to the German/Japanese one. Quote
skylee Posted May 9, 2005 at 10:03 AM Report Posted May 9, 2005 at 10:03 AM Quest, thank you for posting the article. Quote
roddy Posted May 9, 2005 at 03:02 PM Report Posted May 9, 2005 at 03:02 PM Fascinating article, thanks. Quote
CLDragon Posted May 15, 2005 at 01:21 AM Report Posted May 15, 2005 at 01:21 AM well they (as in japanese) were quoted in Rape of Mankind (book about the killing of Nanjing people) that they felt their Asian "brothers" are no match to for the West, so they are invading the Asian countries to govern them better. but however, they used Chinese, and other Asian countries' citizens as test subjects for their bio weapon (it was given to the USA after WWII) during their invasion. Quote
Harpoon Posted May 16, 2005 at 08:52 PM Report Posted May 16, 2005 at 08:52 PM the difference is the victims in question: Jews are in positions of power in many countries and have the money and the weight to throw around, and then there's the whole Israel issue. No one really cares about the Chinese victims unfortunately, and after WW2 ended and especially after the Korean war, the US needed Japan to be quickly pumped into a modernized, westernized, pro-american ally in the East. Quote
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