Abe to Thank Int'l Society in War-End Anniversary Statement

Tokyo, July 24 (Jiji Press)--A statement that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to release next month to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II is expected to mention Japan's gratitude to the international community for accepting the country after the war, Jiji Press learned Friday. In a speech he delivered at a summit to celebrate 60 years of the Asian-African Conference, also known as the Bandung Conference, in Jakarta in April, Abe said, "It was our friends in Asia and Africa who propelled Japan...to make possible our reentry into the international community" after World War II. "To those friends of ours, let me take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt gratitude," he said in the speech. At an April 2 meeting of a panel of experts discussing Abe's planned war-end anniversary statement, some members said that it was fortunate that the international society accepted Japan again after the war and that it would be appropriate for Abe to express the country's gratitude. Abe is also expected to express remorse over the war in the upcoming statement while planning not to include a phrase showing an apology, sources familiar with the matter said. Another focus is whether the Abe statement will refer to Japan's "colonial rule" and "aggression" in other Asian countries during the war, both key phrases used in the 1995 and 2005 statements issued by then Prime Ministers Tomiichi Murayama and Junichiro Koizumi, respectively, to mark the 50th and 60th anniversaries of the end of the war. At a meeting of the experts' panel in March, members were divided over the issue. One member said that using "aggression" would be problematic because there is no fixed definition of the word, while another suggested that it would be impossible not to use the word in light of the circumstances at the time of the war. The government will continue carefully considering this point, an official close to the prime minister suggested. END