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Comfort women exhibition sparks fury, disappointment
2010/12/26 16:07:13 |
Taipei, Dec. 26 (CNA) Taiwanese former comfort women denounced Japan Sunday at the opening of an exhibition that unveils Taiwan's litigation against Japan over the issue of sex slaves used by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War Two.
Chen Tao, one of the 13 surviving comfort women in Taiwan, said she traveled all the way from Pingtung, the southernmost county in Taiwan, to the capital to attend the opening and ask for assistance from President Ma Ying-jeou, who attended the opening, in helping them find justice and dignity.
"We flew to Japan several times but they would not let we victims testify in court, " said Chen, referring to trials that took place between 1999 and 2005, when the Japanese high court ruled against the comfort women in three separate appeals.
"These grandmothers don't want monetary compensation from the Japanese government. They only ask for an official apology, " said Liao Ying-chih, chairwoman of the Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation (TWRF) , the main support group for the former comfort women in Taiwan and the exhibition organizer.
Commenting on Japan's disappointing attitude toward the comfort women, Ma noted that Germany endeavored to confront its historical trauma and even put details of concentration camps in textbooks. "It is a great pity that there are places or nations that have not achieved this stage," he said.
He added that the events of history should not be forgotten, even though they can be forgiven. "The government must not think of setting up memorial halls and revising textbooks as creating public shame, " said Ma, explaining that such measures can stop the same mistakes from being repeated.
Liao said that over the past year, the TWRF has been seeking assistance from Japan's Diet, or parliament, in hope that laws can be passed to oblige the Japanese government to apologize for the country's treatment of the comfort women.
According to Liao, a rough estimate of the number of comfort women used by the Japanese government during World War II stands at 500,000, including victims from Taiwan, Korea, China, the Philippines and various other countries.
The exhibition displays legal documents, petitions, media reports and videos relating to the decade-long international litigation process between Taiwan and Japan, said the TWRF.
The exhibition is free and will run from Dec. 24 to Feb. 2 at the Datong district headquarters of the Taipei City Police Department. (By Nancy Liu) ENDITEM/J
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