Sept 18 memories back in focus

Friday marks the 95th anniversary of the September 18th Incident. Chinese and European political commentators and peace advocates have called for the lessons of history to be remembered amid mounting concerns over Japan's expanding military capabilities and a deteriorating regional security environment.

"I think this history should also be remembered in Europe because it is not only Chinese history," said Marcus Detrez, a French collector and co-founder of World Echo Association, a French public welfare body.

"My own grandfather was in Shanghai during the war (with Japan)and he photographed bombings, destruction, refugees and civilians affected by the conflict. For me, the lesson is very simple: when aggression is normalized and the international community fails to react, the consequences can be catastrophic."

The September 18 Incident was named after the date of its happening, namely the night of Sept 18, 1931, on which Japanese forces caused an explosion in Northeast China, blamed Chinese troops and attacked the latter under the excuse. The League of Nations — the first intergovernmental organization established "to promote international cooperation and to achieve international peace and security" — condemned Japan for the invasion but failed to take any concrete measures to stop it.

"With wars, geopolitical tensions and growing pressure on the international order, remembering this history is not about creating hatred," Detrez said, while voicing concern over Japan implementing a major shift in its postwar defense policy. "It is about understanding how conflicts begin and how we can prevent them. Memory should serve peace, justice and education."

Broad rightward shift

Zhong Haosong, co-founder of World Echo Association who has taken part in three field research visits to Japan, said the team had collected primary-source materials, organized exhibitions and conducted public outreach. "From these experiences, we have identified a clear and worrying signal: a broad rightward shift is taking place across Japanese society, accompanied by the resurgence of a new form of militarism that repeatedly challenges the country's pacifist Constitution," he said.

"Right-wing narratives permeate both Japan's government circles and its civil society. Such clamor has even drowned out the voices of ordinary Japanese citizens yearning for peace, a reality that has struck us with profound shock," Zhong said.

Carlos Martinez, a London-based political commentator and cofounder of the Friends of Socialist China platform, described the trend as Japan's most significant move toward remilitarization since the end of World War II.

"Ninety-five years after the September 18th Incident, the anniversary finds Japan further down the road of remilitarization than at any point since 1945," Martinez said.

He pointed to Japan's record defense budget, its deepening military integration with the United States and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's previous provocative remarks on Taiwan.

Martinez argued that such an approach risks turning Japan into a forward military platform in Washington's strategic competition against Beijing.

Japan hosts about 50,000 US military personnel and occupies a central position in the US alliance system in East Asia.

The nuclear question was particularly serious, Martinez said, citing concerns voiced by Tomoko Tamura, chair of the Japanese Communist Party, that the introduction of US nuclear weapons would make Japan a frontline base in a possible nuclear conflict.

"In the only country ever subjected to atomic attack, that is the measure of how far the US alliance has hollowed out Japan's postwar pacifism," Martinez said. "The peoples of East Asia have every interest in refusing it."

"Europe should approach Japan's military evolution with both realism and historical awareness," Detrez said, stressing that Japan's military policy could not be separated from historical responsibility.

Contact the writers at zhangzhouxiang@chinadaily.com.cn