UNESCO lists Nanjing Massacre and 'comfort women,' China says
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Japan tried to register kamikaze pilots' wills with UNESCO in February
Now China says they have registered records of 'comfort women' recruitment
UNESCO's Memory of the World program protects important historical documents
Japan, China relations strained over ownership of East China Sea islets, Japanese wartime aggression
Hong Kong (CNN) -- China has revealed UNESCO has accepted its application to include documentation of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and the issue of so-called "comfort women" -- sex slaves used by Japanese soldiers during World War II -- into a program that preserves important historical material relating to world heritage.
The issue threatens to put further strain on Sino-Japanese relations, which have deteriorated in recent years over conflicting territorial claims in the region as well as Japan's wartime past.
Earlier this year, Japan applied for a collection of diaries and wills of kamikaze pilots from World War II, to be registered with the same UNESCO body.
UNESCO's Memory of the World program has been collecting important world documents since 1992, preserving precious and potentially threatened material. Its archives include the diary of Ann Frank and the 13th century Magna Carta -- a document that challenged the English monarchy's absolute rule, making it subject to the rule of law.
Chinese state media, Xinhua news agency, reported Thursday that the latest UNESCO-registered documents are primary sources that point to atrocities committed by Japanese troops occupying the Chinese city of Nanjing from December 13, 1937 to March 1, 1938.
This includes historical files recording the recruitment of "comfort women" related to the Japanese Kwantung Army, police stationed at the Shanghai International Settlement, the Japanese-supported puppet regime of Wang Jingwei, and the Central Bank of Manchou, as well as written confessions by Japanese troops, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).
Sex slavery
Japan forced about 200,000 women into sex slavery, luring them to "comfort stations" set up throughout East Asia by the Japanese military from 1932 until the end of the war, according to nonprofit advocacy group Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues.
CNN has widely reported on the stories of the women. Many have said they were kidnapped. For resisting sex, some say, they were raped and beaten. China insists that Japan has not officially apologized for these wartime atrocities.
The Nanjing Massacre refers to the invasion of the city of Nanjing in China's Jiangsu province in 1937, during which time Japanese troops killed an estimated 300,000 people in a rampage of rape, murder, and looting.
Japanese conservatives insist that the mass murders and rapes did not take place.
China submitted the wartime documents to the UNESCO program "to prevent the miserable and dark days from coming back again," said MoFA spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
'Political move'
Japan has condemned China's decision to register the wartime documents, calling it a political move during a sensitive period in the two countries' relations.
"It is extremely regrettable that China used UNESCO politically to unnecessarily play up the negative legacy on a certain period of the history of the both countries when we need effort for the improvement on the bilateral relationship," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said on Wednesday.
Suga added: "We cannot deny that there was murders and looting against non-combatants after the Japanese imperial army entered into Nanjing. However there are several estimates about the scale and it is difficult for the government to determine clearly."
UNESCO lists Nanjing Massacre and 'comfort women,' China says
By Zoe Li, CNN June 13, 2014 -- Updated 0907 GMT (1707 HKT)
米 イラクでの軍事行動に備え空母派遣6月15日 5時23分
イラクで国際テロ組織アルカイダ系の勢力が攻勢を強めるなか、アメリカのヘーゲル国防長官は、オバマ大統領が軍事的な選択肢を決断した場合に備えてペルシャ湾に空母を派遣するよう命令しました。
イラク情勢を巡って、アメリカのオバマ大統領は１３日、イラクに地上部隊を派遣することはないとしたうえで、今後数日、事態を注視し、具体的な対応策を判断する考えを示しました。
こうしたなか、アメリカ国防総省は１４日、ヘーゲル長官がアラビア海の北部に展開していた原子力空母「ジョージ・ＨＷ・ブッシュ」をペルシャ湾に派遣するよう命令を出したと発表しました。
空母はミサイル巡洋艦や駆逐艦と共にアメリカ東部時間の１４日夜、日本時間の１５日昼ごろまでには移動を完了する予定だということです。
今回の派遣について、国防総省は「軍事的な選択肢が必要とされる場合に備え、柔軟に対応するためだ」としています。
中東地域には３万５０００人のアメリカ兵が展開していて、アメリカ政府内ではイラクで攻勢を強める国際テロ組織アルカイダ系の勢力に対し、無人機で空から攻撃することも含めて対応策の検討が進められています。
一方で、オバマ大統領は、アメリカが軍事的な対応を取るにはイラクの指導者たちが宗派の違いを乗り越え、政治的な安定を取り戻そうと努力することが前提になるという考えを示しています。
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