オーストラリアで慰安婦記念碑設置反対運動で活躍している Australia-Japan Community Network(AJCN) が カナダで慰安婦像計画のあるバーナビー市長宛てに慰安婦像反対の手紙を出しましたのでご紹介します。
AJCNは、オーストラリアで他のエスニックグループとの連携も模索し、NSW州の政府機関で多文化社会、移民社会のいろいろな問題点の解決を担当するCommunity Relations Commission for Multicaltural NSW に対しても、「慰安婦像のような移民の母国間での政治問題をオーストラリアの持ち込むべきではない、まずコミュニティのハーモニーを第一に考えるべき」と訴えて活動しています。
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25 March 2015
Mayor Derek Corrigan
City of Burnaby
4949 Canada Way
Burnaby, British Columbia, V5G, IM2
Honourable Mayor Corrigan,
Re: Comfort Woman Statue Proposal
I am writing on behalf of Australia Japan Community Network which has been opposing a similar proposal submitted to Strathfield Council in Australia by a group calling itself “China Korea Alliance against Japanese War Crime “. We are dismayed to have learnt that you are also under pressure to consider such a proposal for your council. We would like to politely but clearly point out to you that this has nothing to do with women’s or human rights but has everything to do with the international political campaign waged by China and South Korea against Japan. The hidden agenda of this campaign is to weaken the ties between Japan and the US, Canada, Australia and other countries. This is 100% political, otherwise why would they wait 70 odd years before finding a need to erect such statues across the world?
We have been working to stop the proposal here in Australia for over a year now. I would like to stress to you that in every sense this is a truly divisive community issue. Last year a petition of more than 3400 local residents was submitted to Strathfield Council that included many non-Japanese residents, and even Chinese and Koreans. I am sure you are already seeing this issue beginning to divide your own community and that of your community over a political issue which has nothing to do with your council, the citizens of Burnaby or the wider Canadian community at large.
If I may, I would also like to bring your attention to some of the often raised issues surrounding this controversy. You may have noticed that Ms Jan Ruff O’Herne is often quoted as a victim of the comfort woman system in the on-going anti-Japan campaign. This is totally incorrect. She was a victim of a crime committed by lower rank soldiers in the front line. As this was breaching the code of conduct the facility where she was captured in Indonesia was shut down by the Japanese imperial army itself. Later, the soldiers who held the key roles in this incident were prosecuted and the one found to be most responsible, was executed.
This kind of crime did happen on some occasions during the war. However, those acts were deviations from the norm.
These days, even the far left scholars have ceased on insisting that 200,000 women were abducted and forced into prostitution by the Japanese imperial army. The most ardent promoter of the comfort woman sex slavery theory admitted that there were no such abductions on the Korean peninsula. This is simply because such an act of abducting 200,000 (or more) women by deploying troops in the middle of war is impossible. No army can afford to do it while fighting against enemies. How do you arrange transportation, accommodation and food for the women? There would have been so many riots and it would have made it extremely difficult to govern the occupied territories. There was absolutely no such records at all. Where have the parents, husbands and brothers of those women abducted in front of them been? Do you still remember the ferry accident in South Korea last year and how the parents and relatives of the victims behaved?
What about those crying old women testifying their stories? At one point the South Korean government chose a dozen or so former comfort woman (paid prostitutes) as the most reliable ones to testify. Unfortunately, their testimonies were so inconsistent and some were clearly talking about their experiences in the Korean War where there was no Japanese involvement that they could not be seriously believed.
In fact, 122 Korean former comfort women are presently suing the South Korean government for forcing them to sexually serve American (and Australian) soldiers during the Korean War. Ironically, the current President of South Korea, Ms Park’s own father was directly responsible for the establishment of these comfort woman brothels. I fail to understand how some Koreans can accuse others.
Left wing scholars have shifted their narratives from abduction to collusion. They say “many women were deceived by vicious Korean pimps but the Japanese authority did not proactively arrest them nor rescue the women. Hence, the Japanese government was guilty as well”. In actual fact, there were numerous newspaper articles about Japanese police who cracked down on Korean crime groups and rescued women at that time. In any case, it is far too difficult for them to prove such an abduction theory because it is totally improbable and unrealistic. In reality it was a commercial operation licensed by the army. Such a system would not have been pleasant in any case but there were also stories of amicable relationships between soldiers and comfort women leading to marriage in some cases.
The American government also went to extraordinary lengths in the search for solid evidence of Japanese war crimes. The IWG (Nazi War Crimes ＆Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group) spent seven years and 30 million dollars searching for evidence under the Clinton and Bush administrations. The final report to the congress clearly states there was no tangible evidence found.
The abduction theory is an impossible theory. Then why are Chinese and South Koreans pushing to erect statues across the world? The president of the Sydney Korean Society said through his delegate that he wanted to erect 10 statues across Australia. Are they that concerned with woman’s human rights from seventy odd years ago? I really don’t see this in their written or spoken comments at all. Rather, the real motive appears to be far more political. The true intention of the comfort woman statue campaign run by the Chinese and South Koreans is to bring pressure to the close relationship between Japan – and the US, Australia, Canada. “Comfort woman” issue has being used as no more than a tool for their campaign to achieve this outcome. This is clearly shown in their action agenda, (See attached document). South Korea is a glove and China is the hand inside. South Koreans are simply being used by the Chinese Communist Party which wants to remove all obstacles in their way to support their own expansionism.
Ms. O’Herne is apparently saying “The Japanese are waiting for me to die but I will never die until the Japanese government officially apologizes.” We are sincerely and truly sympathetic with her case and feel sorry for what happened to her, but she has been offered an apology and compensation by the Japanese government but has chosen not to accept these offers. The matter was legally settled between the Japanese government and the Dutch government. We would like to send her our very best wishes but politely point out once again she was not a victim of the comfort woman system which was in essence a commercial operation. She was the victim of some rogue elements in the Japanese Army who were held to account for their crimes. There should not be any confusion or blurred lines in this matter. Sadly it appears she has been misled by politically motivated people to believe a very different story which has no basis in fact or evidence.
As you may or may not be aware this is a highly politicized matter far beyond any normal human rights issue. No local Canadian community should be subjected to this politically charged dispute with this China-Korea international campaign. We know that you just wanted to be kind to your new sister city but please put harmony in your community first. Harmony in the multicultural city is not given. It requires hard work to achieve and maintain. This is exactly what we are going through right now here in Australia. You have far more important things to do for your residents.
Australia Japan Community Network is a group of Japanese and non-Japanese residents working together to achieve harmony in multicultural societies in Australia. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you like to discuss on this matter.
Australia Japan Community Network
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【 Attached Document 】
In a newsletter widely published by the Korean Society of Sydney in September 2014, the ‘Korean and Chinese Alliance Committee in Australia (KACA) for denouncing Japanese militarism says, “We will mark the year 2014 as the beginning of ‘The New March 1st Movement’ and declare that they will “continue their activities in Australia to denounce Japan for their war crimes committed during World War II“. Chairman, Sang Ok, is vigorously leading this campaign as written in the article below.
KACA activities as listed in the news article are as follows:
1. We will strongly accuse the Japanese Prime Minister Abe and other politicians for visiting the Yasukuni Shrine and demand an apology to Korea and China.
2. We will hold exhibitions, forums and seminars to teach the second generations of Korean and Chinese people in Australia and Australian citizens about the resurgence of Japanese militarism, history revisionism and war crimes such as ‘Comfort women’ and the ‘Nanjing Massacre’.
3. We will erect statues of the “Three Sisters” in Australia in order to inform people widely about the atrocities committed by the Japanese army in the name of “Comfort Women”; kidnapping of young Korean, Chinese and other Asian women and turned them into sex-slaves.
4. We will lead the consensus to pressure the Japanese government to stop revisionism so that we can prevent the good-hearted Japanese people, who have been silent, from waking up to teach the false history to future generations of Japanese.
5. We will demand that the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott acknowledge the Japanese invasion and violations of women’s human rights during World War II, and correct his mistake in thinking that Japan is Australia’s best friend in Asia.
6. We will urge the Australian government to change their thinking towards Japan as their ally, and demand their foreign policies that currently lean towards Japan to be changed so that Australia will treat Korea and China equally with Japan.
7. We will urge the US government not to be deceived by Japan, acknowledge the dark evil intention of Prime Minister Abe, stop remilitarization of Japan and change their foreign policies that put Japan first before Korea and China.
8. We will hereby announce that both Korean and Chinese people will work together for the benefits of both countries and we will continue our activities until above mentioned aims are fulfilled.
