Japan evades key issues when talking history: China on 'comfort woman' statue row

Commenting on the tiff between Japan and South Korea over the erection of a 'comfort woman' statute, China ridiculed Tokyo saying the gestures of Japanese leaders on the issue of history can be summarised as ducking what is crucial and dwelling on what is trivial.

"We feel it is rather necessary for the Japanese side to ponder why this page of history is still not turned over. The Japanese side always evades key issues when talking about history," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said at a press briefing on Monday.

He alleged that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe travelled all the way to Pearl Harbour to honour the loss of lives but treated with indifference its Asian neighbors who suffered the most under "the ravage of the Japanese militarism during WWII."

"What is more, certain Japanese politician (Japan's Defence Minister Tomomi Inada) went directly to the Yasukuni Shrine where Class-A criminals are worshipped right after the trip to Pearl Harbour," said Kang.

"The performance and gesture of the Japanese leader on the issue of history, which can be summarized as ducking what is crucial and really matters in its proximity and dwelling on what is trivial and superficial miles away, shows little trace of sincerity, credibility and honesty," he added.

The 'comfort women' statue is one of a number in South Korea representing those forced to provide sex for Imperial Japanese troops before and during World War II. Japan euphemistically refers to them as the ianfu, or "comfort women."

According to media reports, the one in Busan was erected by protesters on the anniversary of the December 2015 bilateral agreement, the text of which only mentions the more famous statue outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.