U.S. Resolution on Sex Slaves Not Bid to Shame Abe

Reviewed by Takahiro MIYAO

Article:
U.S. Resolution on Sex Slaves Not Bid to Shame Abe
The Japan Times (3/15/2007)
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070315a5.html

Comments:

As is well known by now, the so-called "comfort women issue" (or "sex slave issue") took a nasty turn when Prime Minister Abe said earlier this month that whether Japanese military coerced women into sexual servitude during the war depends on how the word "coerced" is defined. His remark has infuriated many people, especially on the U.S. side, including some of those who are normally supportive of the Abe administration (for example, see the reference).

This Japan Times article on March 15 seems to give us a sense of relief in the overheated atmosphere, as it reports a comment by the head of a House Foreign Affairs Committee panel considering a resolution to seek Japan's apology on this issue, suggesting the possibility of delaying a vote on the resolution until after Prime Minister Abe's visit to the U.S. in late April. In other words, a little more than one month may be given as a possible cooling period.

Hopefully, Mr. Abe can make use of this period by giving a better remark than the previous one, and seek a kind of political settlement on this difficult issue by working with the Bush administration as closely as possible.

Reference:
Ralph A. Cossa and Brad Glosserman (Pacific Forum, CSIS)
"Abe's Comfort Women Remarks: What Was He Thinking?"
http://www.glocom.org/debates/20070315_cossa_abe/

Acknowledgment:
This review is adopted from the following blog (with its Japanese translation):
http://glocom.blog59.fc2.com/blog-date-20070315.html