Protests show that more Japanese oppose militarism: FM

(ECNS) -- Japan's largest antiwar protests in decades show that people across Japan are increasingly aware that the path back to militarism is a path down the abyss, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday.

Guo made the remarks in response to the questions at a press conference. The protests have been largely fueled by the Sanae Takaichi administration's plan to revise the Constitution. 

History is a mirror, Guo said, adding that in the first half of the 20th century, people in Japan witnessed how their country marched to militarism step by step and degenerated into a war machine. They too suffered from the war Japan waged and know better than anyone the meaning of Japan's commitment to forever renounce war.

Guo further pointed out that today, however, the Takaichi administration seems ready to abandon pacifism, which is the fundamental prerequisite for Japan to be readmitted to the international community, and tear up the pacifist identity cherished by generations in Japan.

Guo noted that using self-defense and "external threat" as pretexts, Japan's right-wing forces are gambling with the livelihoods of the Japanese people and jeopardizing peace and stability in the Asia Pacific.

He said that "All peace-loving nations and Japanese people should reject the remilitarization scheme of Japan's right-wing forces, and stem the rise of Japan's neo-militarism."

(By Gong Weiwei)