Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Saturday tried once again to glorify Japan's militaristic past, saying Taiwan's high education standards were a result of Japan's 50-year colonization of the island.

He also used the word "country" when mentioning Taiwan in a speech in the western Japanese city of Fukuoka.

These remarks, reflecting Aso's wrong view of history, have not only misled the Japanese public, especially the young generation, but also undermined the political foundation of the Sino-Japanese relationship.

Taiwan has been part of the Chinese territory since ancient times. The island was ceded to Japan in 1895 and returned to China as prescribed in the Potsdam Proclamation and the Cairo Declaration following Japan's defeat in World War II.

In the joint communique signed by China and Japan in 1972 on the normalization of their diplomatic ties, Japan recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the only legitimate government of China, and fully understands and respects the Chinese government's position that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the PRC.

As Japan's top diplomat, Aso failed to honor the Japanese government's commitment, and has thus impaired Tokyo's credibility.

Aso said in his speech that "thanks to the significant improvement in educational standards and literacy (during the colonization), Taiwan is now a country with a very high education level and keeps up with the current era."

"That was a time when I felt that, as expected, our predecessors did a good thing," said the minister.

In fact, the Taiwanese people were forced to study and speak Japanese during Japan's cruel colonial rule. The compulsory education implemented by Japan was actually part of its enslavement policy aimed at forcing the Taiwanese people's obedience.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi admitted in a statement in August 2005 that Japan "has caused tremendous damage and pain to the peoples of many countries, especially Asian countries, through colonial rule and invasion."

Actually, it was not the first time that Aso had tried to whitewash Japan's aggressive history.

Last month, the hawkish minister said it would be appropriate for the emperor to visit the Yasukuni Shrine where 14 top war criminals are honored.

"From the viewpoint of the spirits of the war dead, they hailed 'Banzai' (long live) for the emperor -- none of them said long live the prime minister. A visit by the emperor would be the best, " Aso said.

He later backtracked on his suggestion, saying he made the remark from the standpoint of the spirits of the war dead because they died for the emperor.

"I never said that (I wanted) the emperor to make the shrine visit in the current situation," Aso told a news conference on Tuesday.

With no doubt, Aso's recent remarks have further strained the

Sino-Japanese relations already marred by Prime Minister Koizumi and other Japanese officials' repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine which is a symbol of Japanese militarism.

In the last 34 years, China and Japan have made remarkable achievements in their political, economic and cultural cooperation and reached the consensus that healthy bilateral relations are mutually beneficial and conform to the fundamental interests of both peoples.

However, some Japanese politicians stick to their wrong view of history and try to justify their country's past military misdeeds.

Those Japanese politicians should stop their fallacies, give up their wrong views, and return to the right track of mending fences.

Source: Xinhua