OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay on Tuesday added Canada’s name to the list of countries that have criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for denying that Japan forced foreign women into military brothels during the Second World War.

Earlier this month, Abe said there was "no evidence" that foreigners were coerced into becoming so-called "comfort women," despite the fact the government officially apologized to such women in 1993.

On Tuesday, MacKay called the remarks "regrettable," noting that "Canada has enormous sympathy for comfort women who endured great suffering during World War II."

"The abuse of the comfort women is a deplorable story and these wrongs and their enormously painful era should not be forgotten but should be addressed in a compassionate and progressive way," he told the House of Commons.

MacKay said he sought clarification from Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, and was told Japan would stand by its 1993 apology and acknowledgement of military involvement in sex slavery.

In 1992, a historian dug up Japanese military records providing evidence of the practice. The women were taken from Japanese-occupied countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and forced into brothels used by Japanese soldiers.

MacKay’s comments come as Canada seeks to thaw a diplomatic chill with China over remarks by Prime Minister Stephen Harper about that country’s human-rights record. In a trip to Asia in the fall, Harper said he wouldn’t refrain from criticizing China in the name of the "almighty dollar."

Indeed, Harper has developed a reputation for making tough foreign-policy statements.

Last summer, he provoked controversy when he described Israel’s military offensive against Lebanon as "measured."

Thus far, Canada’s response to the Japanese prime minister’s comments doesn’t appear to be out of line with reaction by other countries, which have expressed concern, including the United States and the Netherlands.

A spokesman for the Japanese embassy in Ottawa said MacKay’s remarks were not being interpreted as negative by the Japanese.

Liberal foreign affairs critic Ujjal Dosanjh said MacKay’s comments were "low key" and "respectful," but he warned the government not to cross the line and repeat its "bull-headed" mistakes with China.

"There’s no question the Japanese prime minister was in error. I think everyone across the world would say that."

But it "is important that we as Canadians deal with these issues in a sensitive way, so that it is not seen as interference in the internal affairs of another country," he added.

However, New Democratic Party MPs Olivia Chow and Dawn Black are urging the government to go one step further.

They have tabled a motion that would urge the Japanese prime minister to not only apologize once again, but provide "just and honourable" compensation to the victims. "I believe that my motion should still stand and that this parliament, this prime minister needs to communicate to (that) the Prime Minister of Japan," said Chow.

On Friday, Abe’s government repeated its denial, issuing a cabinet-approved statement referring to a study refuting evidence of the practice.

CanWest News Service