by Xinhua Writers Wang Lili, Luo Jun
BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Japan needs to face up to its notorious past ridden with heinous war crimes, though it has every reason to be a proud nation with great development and contribution to the world in the second half of the 20th century.
Many in Japan, including the Shinzo Abe administration and the powerful war-mongering right-wing forces, still refuse to squarely review the nation's history and admit the horrendous atrocities committed by Imperialist Japan in the first half of the 20th century and beyond.
On the 85th anniversary of the "Sept.18, 1931 Incident" that marks the beginning of China's arduous resistance against Japanese aggression, people, particularly relatives of the tens of millions of innocent lives that perished in the nightmare, still await an honest apology and sincere remorse from the Japanese government.
Only by facing up to the nation's notorious past in the mirror of history, can Japan earn respect from its Asian neighbors and the rest of the international community and start to present itself as a normal country in the world.
On the night of Sept. 18, 1931, Japanese aggressor troops bombarded barracks of the Chinese troops near Shengyang in northeast China, triggering the 14-year bloody invasion of China.
Although 85 years have elapsed, the "Sept.18, 1931 Incident", also known as the "Mukden Incident," still serves as a stark reminder of Japan's militaristic ambition in the heart of many Chinese.
With international help, China finally defeated Japanese invaders in 1945, which was an important part of World War II victory in the battlefield of the East.
On this occasion in every year, warning sirens would be sounded and bells would ring in China to remind the people of the struggles and sacrifices made to safeguard national independence and territorial integrity.
China, by bearing in mind lessons from history, always cherishes a grand view towards the future.
On Sept. 5, on the sidelines of the 11th G20 summit in eastern China's Hangzhou, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Japanese Prime Minister Abe that China and Japan should "put aside disruptions" and bring their relations back on the normal track as soon as possible.
The two countries should properly "manage historical issues, and prevent new issues form emerging" in a bid to cut back on the "stumbling blocks," Xi cautioned.
It was regrettable when Japan marked the 71th anniversary of its surrender in WWII on Aug. 15 this year, Abe failed the world again by playing down the country's wartime aggression, and not pledging no return to war.
It is also noteworthy that some Japanese right-wing activists are distorting historical facts by whitewashing Japan's wartime atrocities, and disguising its predatory behaviors in World War II, and dream of bringing Japan back onto the old path of militarism one day.
As long as Japan refuses to reflect on the losses and pains it had inflicted on its Asian neighbors, China and other Asian countries will always stay alert against the right-leaning country.
Next year marks the 45th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese ties. As China and Japan, in Abe's words, are "neighbors that can not be parted," it is important and imperative that Japan takes lessons from its past wrongdoings by severing ties with militarism, in order to win trust from and promote friendship with its neighbors.
