A group of MPs from Japan's governing party is claiming the Chinese have exaggerated the number of people killed by Japanese troops in Nanjing in 1937. China claims that during the assault on the city around 300,000 people were killed by the Japanese. In Tokyo the MPs, from the right wing of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, claimed a month-long study they organised showed 20,000 died. At the end of the year China will mark the 70th anniversary of the attack. They call it the 'rape of Nanking', the name of the city in English at the time of the incident. Several films will tell the story of what happened there. Nanjing was the capital city of China. After it fell to the Japanese Imperial Army on 13 December 1937, the occupiers terrorised the city's population. Many thousands were killed. But some in Japan want to use the anniversary to promote their view that the death toll, cited by the Chinese, is a fiction. China says 300,000 lost their lives in Nanjing. Some experts argue a more accurate estimate is between 150,000 and 200,000. Shinzo Abe may face problems from the claim These lawmakers say a month-long study of historical documents suggests there is no evidence that soldiers killed any more than 20,000. What is more, they say, the Japanese did not violate international law. Clearly these are hugely provocative statements, but do they matter? The Japanese and Chinese governments are carrying out their own joint study. The exercise is designed to try to reduce the chances that disputes over historical fact will derail efforts to improve relations between them. But the announcement by these lawmakers will make life difficult for Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a well-known conservative. He will no doubt now be asked repeatedly whether he shares the views of this large contingent of his own party. But watch for the response of the Chinese. A measured response will signal that they are not prepared to allow history to dominate discussions between Beijing and Tokyo in the run up to this important anniversary. An angry one could signal trouble ahead. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6768847.stm
this is a bit of a throw back to any improvements to relationships both sides are trying for... 1 step forwards 2 steps back...
^ In a war, theres people who will eventually die, but the amount of people do make an issue because they are trying to solve an issue whether the Japaneses went on a killing rampage.
^i think the amount of people killed is a big issue too, but lets say it is not for the sake of argument, the report then goes onto say this is the provocative part, are they saying even on their estimate they killed 20,000 people lawfully...
That's right. It's like to certificate your own license to kill someone and says it's legal. 20,000 people?!?!? It's already bad enough to kill one person with this 'license' respectively with the Japanese words to kill one person without 'violating international law'
Havent u heard "License to kill". Seriously though, if theres more love in this world, things like this wont happen.
Hmm... i think this is quite a big deal, if you consider the fact that japan wants to get a permanent seat on the UN security council. I think the japanese is to proud of themselves to admit what the did wrong and they keep underplaying what they did, like the school books they approved to teach kids about what they think happened. It really takes the piss imo. They should just admit it and pay compensation... just like germany did for the massacre they did. Im quite touchy on this subject... The relations between china and japan are never gonna be that great... cos japan wont ever back down on what happened and there will always be resentment from china. The only reason they talk is because of international trade.
