In 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender, and the fourteen-year-long War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression ended in the victory of the Chinese nation, which was the first national liberation war in modern times in which the Chinese nation achieved complete victory against foreign invasion!
In the past fourteen years, Japan has burned and plundered our country, committed all kinds of evil deeds, and committed heinous crimes.
However, more than seventy years after the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Japan has not yet apologized to our compatriots who died.
When Emperor Hirohito died in 1989, Japan had brazenly invited our country to attend the funeral, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took this opportunity to ask Japan to apologize to the compatriots who died in China, but at this juncture, Japan only responded with three words, "I am sorry", without sincerity!
So why has Japan refused to apologize to China?
The reason is actually very simple, which can be roughly boiled down to three points
First, Japan believed that it was not China at all that had defeated it, but the United States and the Soviet Union.
According to the "Second World War", the participation of the United States in the war changed the balance of power between the two sides, and after a series of battles such as the Battle of Midway and the Battle of Guadalcanal, Japan lost control of the Pacific theater and gradually shrank to the mainland, and the defeat was already evident.
On the Chinese battlefield, the Soviet Union also declared war on Japan, sent troops to the northeast, and completely annihilated Japan's most elite Kwantung Army, and successive setbacks in the Pacific theater and the Chinese battlefield made Japan's defeat a foregone conclusion!
Even so, Japan stubbornly resisted, and even formulated the "100 million people jade crush plan", and finally the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to force Japan to surrender unconditionally.
Therefore, Japan believes that its defeat is entirely due to the United States and the Soviet Union, and has nothing to do with China, so it refuses to apologize to China.
Second, the character of the Yamato people is dictated
Japan is a nation that "bullyes the weak and fears the hard", and the natural environment of many disasters and lack of resources has made the Yamato people form a character of "advocating the strong", in their view, only the strong are worthy of respect, and the weak will be beaten and bullied, which is perfectly normal.
The American cultural scientist Benedict in his classic book "Chrysanthemum and the Sword" called Japan "the only truly thorough hierarchical country", in Japan's view, the United States is higher than its own, then we must respect it, so we will never mention the United States bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs, and China's low rank, being invaded is deserved, so there is no need to apologize to China.
This is the logic of the Yamato people, a kind of "robber logic" that only distinguishes between strong and weak, and does not distinguish between right and wrong.
Third, the United States has played a disgraceful role in the middle
After World War II, the Japanese mainland was almost a scorched earth, and post-war reconstruction was extremely difficult.
However, the United States, which was inseparable from Japan before the war, took a fancy to Japan's geographical location and turned to supporting Japan and helping Japan to rebuild after the war, only for Japan to play a bridgehead role in the struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.
This shows that there are no eternal friends between countries, no eternal enemies, only eternal interests!
In 1991, the drastic changes in Eastern Europe, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the socialist camp, but at this time, China began to rise again, so the United States turned to support Japan to balance China, Japan as a tool for the United States to balance China, naturally refused to apologize to China.
Apologies mean something
Many people wonder why China and Japan are so concerned about the issue of "apology" and have no real impact.
The real reason is that whether it is an apology or not is related to the country's current diplomatic strategy, China is no longer the same as before, and its comprehensive national strength and international influence are constantly improving.
We have enough courage and strength to demand an apology from Japan, to face up to history, and to assume corresponding responsibility for the killings caused by that year, in other words, to demand an apology from Japan, which is an indispensable step in the rise of our great power.
From Japan's point of view, although Japan developed rapidly after World War II with the support of the United States, it was also completely reduced to a puppet of the United States, and today's Japan can only be regarded as an economic power but not a political power, which is very abnormal, and the root of this problem lies in World War II.
Therefore, in order to change the status quo, Japan has been trying to cover up the historical truth, and even falsify textbooks.
In Japan's view, not apologizing can change its current "abnormal" state!
brief summary:
In fact, putting aside the complex political game and interest disputes, from a humanitarian point of view alone, Japan should also apologize to the Chinese people who died, and only by facing history can we move towards the future.
However, Germany never hides its crimes, sincerely repents, and the "Warsaw Kneeling" in 1970 made the world forgive Germany and even gain the respect of the world!
For Japan, if it wants to truly get rid of the control of the United States and gain the forgiveness of the victim country, the only way to face history squarely and take the initiative to apologize is to face history squarely!
References: Chrysanthemum and the Knife, World War II