Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must erase doubts ¡ª sparked by his own words and deeds ¡ª that he wants to water down accounts of Japan¡¯s wartime wrongs, according to a former leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Yohei Kono, who as chief Cabinet secretary issued a landmark 1993 apology over the ¡°comfort women¡± forced to work in Japan¡¯s wartime military brothels, said Tuesday that one source of such doubts is Abe¡¯s push for a more muscular military unfettered by the pacifist Constitution.
¡°Mr. Abe talks of a ¡®proactive contribution to peace,¡¯ but what does that mean?¡± Kono said in an interview, referring to Abe¡¯s signature security policy that includes ending a ban on the Self-Defense Forces fighting abroad, allowing arms exports and revising the postwar U.S.-drafted Constitution.
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