Asia's moment of peace waits for Japan

The answer will be revealed in a statement Abe will issue on Aug 15. He said it will include remorse for the past war and Japan's postwar and future development.

Japan is not comfortable every time it is compared to Germany in terms of atonement for its deeds and reconciliation with the victims.

Both waged war, but Germany has apologized sincerely and atoned, Japan has not.

When Schroder came to power one of his central pledges to Germans was to draw a line under their country's nightmare history, to finally make Germany a "normal" country. Schroder described D-Day as "a day of gratitude for the freedom which was won starting there". For Germany, Schroder's presence in France on June 4, 2004 signaled international rehabilitation.

Abe is the first Japanese prime minister born after the war who has a political agenda to build a "proud and strong Japan". He is committed to breaking away from the postwar regime the US occupation imposed on Japan. And on wartime history, Abe has allied himself with Japan's right-wing politicians, news media and scholars. He doubts the validity of the postwar Tokyo Trials, in which Japan's wartime leaders were condemned.

But the sackings of Nanjing and Manila; the slaves worked to death on the Thai-Burma railroad; the brutal prisoner of war camps from Singapore to Sumatra; the millions of dead in China. These have left permanent scars on the history of Asia.

Europe took 60 years to deal with its WWII legacy and forge new bonds, Asia still does not know how long this will take.

This is up to Japan.

The author is China Daily's Tokyo bureau chief

caihong@chinadaily.com.cn