BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese right-wing forces are habitual perpetrators of fabricating false narratives, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday.
Guo made the remarks at a regular news briefing when asked to comment on the claim of some Japanese people that Japan is a "peace-loving" country and that China's accusations are "inconsistent with facts."
"What the Japanese side said and did is yet another example of how some in Japan knowingly distort facts, refuse to correct their wrongdoings, and attempt to feign innocence for sympathy in the international community," Guo said. "It's not the first time that the right-wing forces in Japan have concocted false narratives."
The right-wing forces depicted Japan's war of aggression against Asian neighbors as "the liberation of Asia," downplayed the horrendous Nanjing Massacre as "the Nanjing incident," whitewashed the infamous Unit 731 as a "public health research unit," and dismissed forced labor and "comfort women" as "voluntary acts," Guo said.
After the war, Japan has described itself as a "victim" of the war while avoiding mentioning that militarism is the source of warfare, Guo said.
It claims to uphold the exclusively defense-oriented principle and the passive defense strategy, but has eased the restrictions on exercising the right to collective self-defense, kept relaxing restrictions on arms exports, and even attempted to revise its three non-nuclear principles, he said.
He noted that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan have been met with the Chinese people's indignation as well as opposition and criticism from Japan and some other countries.
What the Japanese side should do is to listen to these calls and do soul-searching rather than make futile attempts to persuade other countries into believing their groundless explanations, Guo said.
"We urge some in Japan to stop spreading false narratives, face up to the history, reflect on and correct the wrongdoings, retract the erroneous remarks, honor the commitments, and act responsibly to offer China and the international community a satisfactory answer," the spokesperson said. ■
