hoichi
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There's not been love lost between Japan and China for a looooong time, true. I think the latest atrocities, such as the rape of Nanking, are most burning in Chinese memory, especially since there are still survivors or direct descendants of victims alive. I think China believes (with some justification) that Japan was never really held accountable for what they did in China, and that Japan never even expressed sincere remorse to China. Never-ending bad blood, and this is just the latest twist on it.
True. to a point. then again the brits never were held accountable for anything either. invading china or anyone. cant blame the japs wanting not to be held accountable when the brits got away with sheer murder for centuries. it kinda is a strange thing isnt it? one reason why japan even went into china was due to the brits going into china a half century prior and staying there. every nation that go into china did. the Germans, the brits, japan actually was invited by western nations to help. they rescued a number of brits that were going to face certain death at the hands of the chinese. Further and prior to this japan itself was happy with its force isolation. it was the American fleet and perrys black ships that forced japan under cannon to open up to the west. Thus we have the fall of the shogun and the restoration of emperor meiji whom was soon to follow in the wests footsteps very much so, as the Japanese saw with wide eyes what the hell the west was doing in china. and knew they were next if they didnt do what the west was doing. become imperial. they had little choice since the American fleet and perry. thus they sought and received aid from the west mutiple western nations qaided them, in forming an advanced modern industrial military. bent on foreign conquest. its some interesting reading here if your interested. one result of this was Japanese whiskey. which isnt that bad. Anyway if anything the Japanese empire is a direct result of American meddling in japans affairs. Its whats called the law of unintended consequences of which history is full.
i only bring this up to illustrate the descent from an isolated feudal non industrial samurai led nation to being forced to become the empire it became in less then 50 years. no other nation or peoples done such a deed. it should be lauded.
while japan was no saint it certainly was not the only monster in what was to become that world defining event wwii.
the truism here is this.
War criminals are the losers, decorated war heroes are the winners
nuke a couple of cities, one a civilian designated safe zone=war heroes
rape nanking=war criminals
ok makes sense to some
as for being accountable japans leaders were executed. nation invaded, cities nuked, after the japanse total surrender and subsequent American occupation, japans military was abolished, its religion (shinto) outlawed, (under MacArthur), japans culture completely re designed to suit western interests. i would argue thats being held accountable.
what more should the west of done? maybe a couple of more nukes? guess we had a few to spare and a few cities to test them on why not?
fine
We need to remember if japan would of choose the allies side no one not one Japanese general would of got executed at all, rape of nanking or not. china still would of been butchered. The west would not of cared, as it didn't care prior to those particular hostilities what its friends did to those like the west it conquered.
for what its worth