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The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee has passed, by a 39-2 vote, a nonbinding resolution that says "Japan should formally acknowledge, apologize and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young women into sexual slavery" during its occupation of Asia and Pacific islands from the 1930s through World War II. The resolution is likely to be approved by the full House.
A full-page ad in The Washington Post run by 44 Japanese lawmakers and others denying the sexual slavery allegations is said to have triggered the passing of the resolution. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the government must realize that U.S. lawmakers distrust moves inside Japan to dilute or rescind the 1993 statement by then-Chief Secretary Yohei Kono, which offered a "sincere" apology and self-examination concerning the "comfort women" issue. That statement said the Imperial Armed Forces had been involved in managing comfort stations and transporting women, and that sexual slavery deeply injured the honor and dignity of many women.
In his April visit to the United States, Mr. Abe expressed sympathy for the hardships suffered by former comfort women, and President George W. Bush accepted Mr. Abe's apology. But it was Mr. Abe's earlier attempt to dilute Japan's responsibility for instituting the servitude that had sowed the seeds of distrust. In March, he said that no testimonies had proven the existence of coercion "in a narrow sense" — in which "government authorities" intruded into homes and took women away by force. This was an attempt to shift attention from the government and the military's involvement in operation of the comfort women system.
The government and lawmakers must realize that dealing squarely with Japan's wartime behavior is a cornerstone of Japan's relationship with the United States, or any other country for that matter. Any attempt to ruin the sincerity of Mr. Kono's statement will betray the international community's trust in Japan.
The Japan Times Weekly: July 7, 2007
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米下院外交委員会は、従軍慰安婦問題に関する決議案を賛成39、反対2で可決した。日本政府に対し、アジア女性の強制連行についての軍の責任を明確に認め、謝罪することを求めている決議案は、本会議で採択される見込みである。
最近ワシントンポスト紙が国会議員など日本人44人による従軍慰安婦に関する意見広告を掲載したが、それが決議案可決の引き金になった。
安倍首相は4月の訪米中に、元従軍慰安婦に対し謝罪し、ブッシュ大統領もこれを受け入れた。しかし安倍氏は3月に、政府当局が強制的に女性を連行した証拠はないと主張した。
戦時中の問題に真摯に対応することが米国に限らず諸外国との関係改善の基礎である。従軍慰安婦問題について謝罪した河野洋平官房長官談話（1993）を無視するような動きは、国際社会の日本に対する信頼を傷つける。
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