In sharp contrast to the gutless Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) finally showed some guts recently when he told a Japanese delegation that "any war or invasion is unjust." Even though Chen wasn't directly criticizing the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni war shrine, his message was obvious.
Whether war is just has been discussed since at least as early as the 1500s. In 1526, the religious reformer Martin Luther published an important thesis called "Do Warriors Have A Soul?" in which he clearly points out: "It is only when a war of invasion is already well under way that a counter attack may be launched, and that a war is just."
Simply put, only a resistance war in opposition to an invasion meets the requirements of a so-called bellum iustum (a just war). War for other political goals, such as the expansion of national power, a solution to border disputes, or the development of the national economy, such as Hitler's German Lebensraum or the Japanese "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere," were unjust.
That Luther was able to lay down such clear and simple rules regarding the justness of war in an era of religious fervor certainly was an accomplishment. Looking at the jihad of Arab countries right up to the present day, they have mainly been waged for the purpose of protecting their religion and spreading the teachings of Allah, which gives them the dual character of both defense and attack.
We should not look upon Luther's view as that of a single-mindedly religious person. His recognition of wars of invasion as being unjust has gradually seeped into people's understanding and become part of humanitarian thinking in Europe.
In Germany after World War II a contempt for the older generation developed among young Germans in the 1950s. They believed that the older generation, who had supported the Nazis' political power, and even parents who had voluntarily joined the army, were unfit to lead their sons and daugh-ters. This wave of thought was still extremely prevalent in the 1980s when I studied in Germany.
The German people's recognition that World War II, which they started, was highly unjust of course has a direct link to the Nazis' cruel slaughter of Jews. But if the people do not have the ability to reflect, and if a standard for reflection and realignment of values is not provided, society as a whole will still not be able to recognize past mistakes.
Both opposition and ruling parties in Germany have made a great effort to eliminate militarism since the war. Germany has always glorified militarism, and there are all kinds of military museums throughout the country. Not one of these museums, however, displays any of the rather handsome uniforms, badges or other relics of the SS -- the butchers of prisoners of war and Jews during the war.
However, since the war, every Japanese prime minister has visited the Yasukuni war shrine. I myself once visited the shrine's museum, the Yushukan. It's quite ironic that this, the most important military museum in Japan, takes its name from The Encouragement of Study (勸學第一), the first book of Xunzi (荀子, Confucian philosopher of the third century BC): "When the gentleman settles down, he must choose his neighbors. When travelling, he must be close to scholars [or soldiers]" (君子居必擇 鄰,遊必就士).
Most of the museum's exhibits are from World War II and most are displayed in a manner in which they are glorified. One example is the uniform and sword worn by War Minister General Anami Korechika when he committed suicide, which are presented in a heroic manner. Even as the Americans were about to land, Korechika ordered all students to train with bamboo guns and decided that Japan's 100 million people should die in honor.
The suicide torpedo, "Return to Heaven," developed by the Japanese, is also unashamedly displayed. Visiting the museum, one detects absolutely no sense of shame that the Japanese might have for starting the war or any feelings of responsibility for its continued encouragement or remorse for its millions of deaths.
It really is very difficult for a Taiwanese-Chinese to see the war shrine, dedicated to the "heroic spirits" of more than 2,400,000 Japanese war dead. These include 13,000 killed in the Sino-Japanese war, 1,400 killed in the Taiwan Campaign which butchered the Taiwanese militia, 185 in the May 1928 Jinan Incident, 17,000 in the 918 incident (Sept. 18, 1931), as well as 19,000 killed in battle in China prior to Pearl Harbor (after Pearl Harbor they were included among the 2,013,000 Japanese killed in the East Asian war).
Not one soldier killed in battle in Korea is represented at the Yasukuni shrine, but it still incites violent protest in South Korea. Can Taiwan really look on quietly, showing no emotion?
When German Chancellor Willy Brandt knelt down in repentance while presenting flowers at Jewish graves in Warsaw in December 1970, he represented the conscience of Germany's intellectuals and politicians.
When will we see the Japanese prime minister kneel down in repentance at the Nanjing memorial museum dedicated to the victims of the Rape of Nanjing and in front of martyrs and memorials in each Asian country?
Chen Shin-min is a professor and research fellow at Academia Sinica.
Translated by Perry Svensson
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