Manila comfort women statue could cloud bilateral ties
A statue of a Philippine woman symbolising comfort women has been erected in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. An inscription on the statue says the women were victims of abuse during the occupation by Japanese forces.
The Manila city government approved installation of the statue, which was spearheaded by an organisation of former comfort women and residents of Chinese descent. A Philippine government body involved in preserving historical heritage sites reportedly knew in advance that the statue would be erected.
This is a serious situation. It seems the Philippine side lacked awareness that erecting a comfort women statue would harm bilateral ties with Japan. The Japanese government was quite right to demand the statue be removed.
During Japan’s occupation of the Philippines from 1942 to 1945, comfort stations were established in many parts of that nation. It has been reported that ordinary women were violently abducted by some military units stationed in the Philippines.
The Asian Women’s Fund established by the Japanese government in 1995 implemented atonement projects such as paying compensation to former comfort women. Of all the countries and regions where the AWF has implemented these projects, the Philippines had the most women – 211 – who received compensation, which included atonement money of ¥2 million (Bt600,000).
Japan’s relationship with the Philippines improved thanks to these efforts. In recent times, there have been no noticeable anti-Japan movements in the Philippines.
Prevent more installations
One glaring problem in this latest case is the Japanese government’s response came too late. The Japanese Embassy in Manila became aware that the statue had been installed only after local and other media reported its unveiling ceremony on December 8.
The statue was erected on a promenade along a main road lined with national and local government offices and high-end hotels. Although it is highly possible the organisation that arranged the installation of the statue carefully made preparations behind the scenes to avoid being detected by Japanese officials, the embassy’s ability to gather information on this matter can only be described as inadequate.
Comfort women statues are spreading and have been erected in South Korea, China, the United States, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. It is striking that in areas home to many residents of Chinese or South Korean descent, and where these residents wield political influence, local organisations and assembly members have pushed for such statues to be installed.
Based on lessons learned from this latest development in Manila, the Foreign Ministry has started bolstering its ability to collect information in Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
The ministry will explain to each nation’s government how Japan is handling these historical issues and also speed up efforts calling on them to understand Japan’s position. These steps must be steadily implemented. Moves to hurt Japan’s relations with nearby countries and unfairly impair Japan’s honour by clinging to the comfort women issue cannot be ignored under any circumstances. Increasing diplomatic efforts will be essential to stop any more statues from being erected.